Last Call: Weekly "My Utmost for His Highest" (10th-16th)

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"All Devotional Posts are Presented in Weekly Format"

(Posted on Sunday for all Seven days of the Week)

 

 

 This Weeks  

My Utmost for His Highest

 

SUNDAY

April 10

MORNING

MORAL DECISION ABOUT SIN

"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."

Romans 6:6

Co-Crucifixion. Have I made this decision about sin - that it must be killed right out in me? It takes a long time to come to a moral decision about sin, but it is the great moment in my life when I do decide that just as Jesus Christ died for the sin of the world, so sin must die out in me, not be curbed or suppressed or counteracted, but crucified. No one can bring anyone else to this decision. We may be earnestly convinced, and religiously convinced, but what we need to do is to come to the decision which Paul forces here.

Haul yourself up, take a time alone with God, make the moral decision and say - "Lord, identify me with Thy death until I know that sin is dead in me." Make the moral decision that sin in you must be put to death.

It was not a divine anticipation on the part of Paul, but a very radical and definite experience. Am I prepared to let the Spirit of God search me until I know what the disposition of sin is - the thing that lusts against the Spirit of God in me? Then if so, will I agree with God's verdict on that disposition of sin - that it should be identified with the death of Jesus? I cannot reckon myself "dead indeed unto sin" unless I have been through this radical issue of will before God.

Have I entered into the glorious privilege of being crucified with Christ until all that is left is the life of Christ in my flesh and blood? "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me."

 

MONDAY

April 11

MORNING

MORAL DIVINITY
"For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection." Romans 6:5 Co-Resurrection. The proof that I have been through crucifixion with Jesus is that I have a decided likeness to Him. The incoming of the Spirit of Jesus into me readjusts my personal life to God. The resurrection of Jesus has given Him authority to impart the life of God to me, and my experimental life must be constructed on the basis of His life. I can have the resurrection life of Jesus now, and it will show itself in holiness. The idea all through the apostle Paul's writings is that after the moral decision to be identified with Jesus in His death has been made, the resurrection life of Jesus invades every bit of my human nature. It takes omnipotence to live the life of the Son of God in mortal flesh. The Holy Spirit cannot be located as a Guest in a house, He invades everything. When once I decide that my "old man" (i.e., the heredity of sin) should be identified with the death of Jesus, then the Holy Spirit invades me. He takes charge of everything, my part is to walk in the light and to obey all that He reveals. When I have made the moral decision about sin, it is easy to reckon actually that I am dead unto sin, because I find the life of Jesus there all the time. Just as there is only one stamp of humanity, so there is only one stamp of holiness, the holiness of Jesus, and it is His holiness that is gifted to me. God puts the holiness of His Son into me, and I belong to a new order spiritually.

 

 

 

 

TUESDAY

April 12

MORNING

 

MORAL DOMINION
"Death hath no more dominion over Him . . . in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God." Romans 6:9-11 Co-Eternal Life. Eternal life was the life which Jesus Christ exhibited on the human plane, and it is the same life, not a copy of it, which is manifested in our mortal flesh when we are born of God. Eternal life is not a gift from God, eternal life is the gift of God. The energy and the power which was manifested in Jesus will be manifested in us by the sheer sovereign grace of God when once we have made the moral decision about sin. "Ye shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost" - not power as a gift from the Holy Ghost; the power is the Holy Ghost, not something which He imparts. The life that was in Jesus is made ours by means of His Cross when once we make the decision to be identified with Him. If it is difficult to get right with God, it is because we will not decide definitely about sin. Immediately we do decide, the full life of God comes in. Jesus came to give us endless supplies of life: "that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." Eternal Life has nothing to do with Time, it is the life which Jesus lived when He was down here. The only source of Life is the Lord Jesus Christ. The weakest saint can experience the power of the Deity of the Son of God if once he is willing to "let go." Any strand of our own energy will blur the life of Jesus. We have to keep letting go, and slowly and surely the great full life of God will invade us in every part, and men will take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus.

 

 

 

WEDNESDAY

April 13

MORNING

 

WHAT TO DO UNDER THE CONDITIONS
"Cast thy burden upon the Lord." Psalm 55:22 We must distinguish between the burden-bearing that is right and the burden-bearing that is wrong. We ought never to bear the burden of sin or of doubt, but there are burdens placed on us by God which He does not intend to lift off, He wants us to roll them back on Him. "Cast that He hath given thee upon the Lord." (R.V. marg.) If we undertake work for God and get out of touch with Him, the sense of responsibility will be overwhelmingly crushing; but if we roll back on God that which He has put upon us, He takes away the sense of responsibility by bringing in the realization of Himself. Many workers have gone out with high courage and fine impulses, but with no intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ, and before long they are crushed. They do not know what to do with the burden, it produces weariness, and people say - "What an embittered end to such a beginning!" "Roll thy burden upon the Lord" - you have been bearing it all; deliberately put one end on the shoulders of God. "The government shall be upon His shoulder." Commit to God "that He hath given thee"; not fling it off, but put it over on to Him and yourself with it, and the burden is lightened by the sense of companionship. Never disassociate yourself from the burden.

 

 

 

 

THURSDAY

April 14

MORNING

INSPIRED INVINCIBILITY
"Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me." Matthew 11:29 "Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth." How petty our complaining is! Our Lord begins to bring us into the place where we can have communion with Him, and we groan and say - "O Lord, let me be like other people!" Jesus is asking us to take one end of the yoke - "My yoke is easy, get alongside Me and we will pull together." Are you identified with the Lord Jesus like that? If so, you will thank God for the pressure of His hand. "To them that have no might He increaseth strength." God comes and takes us out of our sentimentality, and our complaining turns into a pæan of praise. The only way to know the strength of God is to take the yoke of Jesus upon us and learn of Him. "The joy of the Lord is your strength." Where do the saints get their joy from? If we did not know some saints, we would say - "Oh, he, or she, has nothing to bear." Lift the veil. The fact that the peace and the light and the joy of God are there is proof that the burden is there too. The burden God places squeezes the grapes and out comes the wine; most of us see the wine only. No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God in a human spirit, it is an inner unconquerableness. If you have the whine in you, kick it out ruthlessly. It is a positive crime to be weak in God's strength.

 

 

 

FRIDAY

April 15

MORNING

THE RELAPSE OF CONCENTRATION
"But the high places were not taken away out of Israel; nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days." 2 Chronicles 15:17 Asa was incomplete in his external obedience, he was right in the main but not entirely right. Beware of the thing of which you say - "Oh, that does not matter much." The fact that it does not matter much to you may mean that it matters a very great deal to God. Nothing is a light matter with a child of God. How much longer are some of us going to keep God trying to teach us one thing? He never loses patience. You say - "I know I am right with God"; but still the "high places" remain, there is something over which you have not obeyed. Are you protesting that your heart is right with God, and yet is there something in your life about which He has caused you to doubt? Whenever there is doubt, quit immediately, no matter what it is. Nothing is a mere detail. Are there some things in connection with your bodily life, your intellectual life, upon which you are not concentrating at all? You are all right in the main but you are slipshod; there is a relapse on the line of concentration. You no more need a holiday from spiritual concentration than your heart needs a holiday from beating. You cannot have a moral holiday and remain moral, nor can you have a spiritual holiday and remain spiritual. God wants you to be entirely His, and this means that you have to watch to keep yourself fit. It takes a tremendous amount of time. Some of us expect to "clear the numberless ascensions" in about two minutes.

 

 

SATURDAY

April 16

MORNING

CAN YOU COME DOWN?
"While ye have light, believe in the light." John 12:36 We all have moments when we feel better than our best, and we say - "I feel fit for anything; if only I could be like this always!" We are not meant to be. Those moments are moments of insight which we have to live up to when we do not feel like it. Many of us are no good for this workaday world when there is no high hour. We must bring our commonplace life up to the standard revealed in the high hour. Never allow a feeling which was stirred in you in the high hour to evaporate. Don't put your mental feet on the mantelpiece and say - "What a marvellous state of mind to be in!" Act immediately, do something, if only because you would rather not do it. If in a prayer meeting God has shown you something to do, don't say - "I'll do it"; do it! Take yourself by the scruff of the neck and shake off your incarnate laziness. Laziness is always seen in cravings for the high hour; we talk about working up to a time on the mount. We have to learn to live in the grey day according to what we saw on the mount. Don't cave in because you have been baffled once, get at it again. Burn your bridges behind you, and stand committed to God by your own act. Never revise your decisions, but see that you make your decisions in the light of the high hour.

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Last Call: Weekly "Days of Heaven Upon Earth" (10th-16th)

lastcalldevotionalnetwork@gmail.com

"All Devotional Posts are Presented in Weekly Format"

(Posted on Sunday for all Seven days of the Week)

 

 

 This Weeks  

Days of Heaven Upon Earth

 

SUNDAY

April 10

MORNING

Days of Heaven Upon Earth

      "Hold fast the confidence" (Heb. iii. 6).
      
      Seldom have we seen a sadder wreck of even the highest, noblest Christian character than when the enemy has succeeded in undermining the simple trust of a child of God, and got him into self-accusing and condemnation. It is a fearful place when the soul allows Satan to take the throne and act as God, sitting in judgment on its every thought and act; and keeping it in the darkness of ceaseless condemnation. Well indeed has the apostle told us to hold firmly the shield of faith!
      
      This is Satan's objective point in all his attacks upon you, to destroy your trust. If he can get you to lose your simple confidence in God, he knows that he will soon have you at his feet.
      
      It is enough to wreck both the reason and the life for the soul that has known the sweetness of His love to lose its perfect trust in God. "Beloved, hold fast your confidence and the rejoicing of your hope firm unto the end."
      
      Fear not to take your place
          With Jesus on the throne,
      And bid the powers of earth and hell,
          His sovereign sceptre own

 

 

MONDAY

April 11

MORNING

 

    "Commit thy way unto the Lord" (Ps. xxxvii. 5).

      
      Seldom have we heard a better definition of faith than was given once in one of our meetings by a dear old colored woman, as she answered the question of a young man how to take the Lord for needed help.
      
      In her characteristic way, pointing her finger toward him, she said with great emphasis: "You've just got to believe that He's done it, and it's done." The great danger with most of us is, that after we ask Him to do it, we do not believe that it's done, but we keep on helping Him, and getting others to help Him; superintending God and waiting to see how He is going to do it.
      
      Faith adds its amen to God's yea, and then takes its hands off, and leaves God to finish His work. Its language is, "Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him; and He worketh."
      
      Lord, I give up the struggle,
          To Thee commit my way,
      I trust Thy word forever,
          And settle it all to-day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

TUESDAY

April 12

MORNING

 "They were as it were, complainers" (Num. xi. 1).
      
      There is a very remarkable phrase in the book of Numbers, in the account of the murmuring of the children of Israel in the wilderness. It reads like this: "When the people, as it were, murmured." Like most marginal readings it is better than the text, and a great world of suggestive truth lies back of that little sentence.
      
      In the distance we may see many a vivid picture rise before our imagination of people who do not dare to sin openly and unequivocally, but manage to do it "as it were" only. They do not lie straight, but they evade or equivocate, or imply enough falsehood to escape a real conviction of conscience. They do not openly accuse God of unkindness or unfaithfulness, but they strike at Him through somebody else. They find fault with circumstances and people and things that God has permitted to come into their lives, and, "As it were," murmur. They do not perhaps go any farther. They feel like doing it if they dared to "charge God foolishly."
      
      These things were written for our warning.

 

 

 

WEDNESDAY

April 13

MORNING

 

    "Rejoice evermore" (I. Thess. v. 16).
      
      Do not lose your joy whatever else you lose. Keep the spirit of spring. "Rejoice evermore," and "Again I say, rejoice."
      
      The loss of Canaan began in the spirit of murmurings, "When the people, as it were, murmured, it displeased the Lord." The first break in their fellowship, the first falter in their advance, came when they began to doubt, and grieve, and fret.
      
      Oh, keep the heart from the perforations of depression, discouragement, distrust and gloom, for Satan cannot crush a rejoicing and praiseful soul.
      
      Look out for the beginning of sin. Don't let the first touch of evil be harbored. It is the first step that loses all. Oh, to keep so encased in the Holy Ghost and in the very life of Jesus that the evil cannot reach us!
      
      The little fly on the inside of the window-pane may be attacked by the little bird on the outside, and it may seem to him that he is lost, but the crystal pane between keeps him safely from all danger as certainly as if it were a mighty wall of iron.

 

 

 

 

THURSDAY

April 14

MORNING

   "I if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto Me" (John xii. 32).
      
      A true and pure Christian life attracts the world. There are hundreds of men and women who find no inducements whatever in the lives of ordinary Christians to interest them in practical religion, but who are won at once by a true and victorious example. We believe that more men of the world step at a bound right into a life of entire consecration than into the intermediate state which is usually presented to them at the first stage.
      
      In an audience once there was a man who for half a century or more had lived without Christ, and who was a very prominent citizen, a man in public life, of irreproachable character, lofty intellect, and a most winning spirit and manners, but utterly out of sympathy with the Christian life.
      
      At the close of a service for the promotion of deeper spiritual life he rose to ask the prayers of the congregation, and before the end of the week he was himself a true and acknowledged follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, as he went home that night, "If that is the religion of Jesus Christ, I want it."

 

FRIDAY

April 15

MORNING

   "Rooted and grounded in love" (Eph. iii. 17).

      
      There is a very singular shrub, which grows abundantly in the west, and is to be found in all parts of Texas. It is no less than the "mosquito tree." It is a very slim, and willowy looking shrub, and would seem to be of little use for any industrial purposes; but is has extraordinary roots growing like great timbers underground, and possessing such qualities of endurance in all situations that it is used and very highly valued for good pavements. The city of San Antonio is said to be paved with these roots. It reminds one of those Christians who make little show externally, but their growth is chiefly underground--out of sight, in the depth of God. These are the men and women that God uses for the foundation of things, and for the pavements of that city of God which will stand when all earthly things have crumbled into ruin and dissolved into oblivion.
      
      Deeper, deeper let the living waters flow;
          Blessed Holy Spirit! River of Salvation!
          All Thy fulness let me know.

 

 

SATURDAY

April 16

MORNING

   "Quit you like men" (I. Cor. xvi. 13).

      
      Be brave. Cowards always get hurt. Brave men generally come out unharmed. Jeremiah was a hero. He shrank from nothing. He faced his king and countrymen with dauntless bravery, and the result was he suffered no harm, but came through the siege of Jerusalem without a hair being injured. Zedekiah, the cowardly king, was always afraid to obey God and be true, and the result was that he at last met the most cruel punishment that was ever inflicted on human heart.
      
      The men and women that stand from the beginning true to their convictions have the fewest tests. When God gives to you a good trial, if you can stand the strain, He is not always repeating it. When Abraham offered up his son Isaac at Mount Moriah, it was a final testing for the rest of his life. Do not let Satan see that you are afraid of him, for he will pursue to the death if he thinks that he has a chance of getting you.
      
      Be true, be true,
      Whether friends be false or few,
      Whatsoe'er betide, ever at His side,
          Let Him always find you true.

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Last Call: Weekly "Streams in the Desert" (10th-16th)

lastcalldevotionalnetwork@gmail.com

"All Devotional Posts are Presented in Weekly Format"

(Posted on Sunday for all Seven days of the Week)

 

 

 This Weeks  

STREAMS IN THE DESERT

 

SUNDAY

April 10

MORNING

 The Summer Will Come
      
      "Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you" (Isa. 30:18).
      
      Where showers fall most, there the grass is greenest. I suppose the fogs and mists of Ireland make it "the Emerald Isle"; and whenever you find great fogs of trouble, and mists of sorrow, you always find emerald green hearts; full of the beautiful verdure of the comfort and love of God. O Christian, do not thou be saying, "Where are the swallows gone? They are gone; they are dead." They are not dead; they have skimmed the purple sea, and gone to a far-off land; but they will be back again by and by. Child of God, say not the flowers are dead; say not the winter has killed them, and they are gone. Ah, no! though winter hath coated them with the ermine of its snow; they will put up their heads again, and will be alive very soon. Say not, child of God, that the sun is quenched, because the cloud hath hidden it. Ah, no; he is behind there, brewing summer for thee; for when he cometh out again, he will have made the clouds fit to drop in April showers, all of them mothers of the sweet May flowers. And oh! above all, when thy God hides His face, say not that He hath forgotten thee. He is but tarrying a little while to make thee love Him better; and when He cometh, thou shalt have joy in the Lord, and shalt rejoice with joy unspeakable. Waiting exercises our grace; waiting tries our faith; therefore, wait on in hope; for though the promise tarry, it can never come too late. --C. H. Spurgeon
      
      "Oh, every year hath its winter,
      And every year hath its rain--
      But a day is always coming
      When the birds go north again.
      
      "When new leaves swell in the forest,
      And grass springs green on the plain,
      And alders' veins turn crimson--
      And the birds go north again.
      
      "Oh, every heart hath its sorrow,
      And every heart hath its pain--
      But a day is always coming
      When the birds go north again.
      
      "'Tis the sweetest thing to remember,
      If courage be on the wane,
      When the cold, dark days are over--

      Why, the birds go north again."

 

 

 

MONDAY

April 11

MORNING

 

     Music and the Rest

      
      "Into a desert place apart" (Matt. 14:13).
      
      "There is no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in it." In our whole life-melody the music is broken off here and there by "rests," and we foolishly think we have come to the end of the tune. God sends a time of forced leisure, sickness, disappointed plans, frustrated efforts, and makes a sudden pause in the choral hymn of our lives; and we lament that our voices must be silent, and our part missing in the music which ever goes up to the ear of the Creator. How does the musician read the "rest"? See him beat the time with unvarying count, and catch up the next note true and steady, as if no breaking place had come between.
      
      Not without design does God write the music of our lives. Be it ours to learn the tune, and not be dismayed at the "rests." They are not to be slurred over, not to be omitted, not to destroy the melody, not to change the keynote. If we look up, God Himself will beat the time for us. With the eye on Him, we shall strike the next note full and clear. If we sadly say to ourselves, "There is no music in a 'rest,'" let us not forget "there is the making of music in it." The making of music is often a slow and painful process in this life. How patiently God works to teach us! How long He waits for us to learn the lesson! --Ruskin
      
      "Called aside--
      From the glad working of thy busy life,
      From the world's ceaseless stir of care and strife,
      Into the shade and stillness by thy HeavenlyGuide
      For a brief space thou hast been called aside.
      
      "Called aside--
      Perhaps into a desert garden dim;
      And yet not alone, when thou hast been with Him,
      
      And heard His voice in sweetest accents say:
      'Child, wilt thou not with Me this still hourstay?'
      
      "Called aside--
      In hidden paths with Christ thy Lord to tread,
      Deeper to drink at the sweet Fountainhead,
      Closer in fellowship with Him to roam,
      Nearer, perchance, to feel thy Heavenly Home.
      
      "Called aside--
      Oh, knowledge deeper grows with Him alone;
      In secret of His deeper love is shown,
      And learnt in many an hour of dark distress
      Some rare, sweet lesson of His tenderness.
      
      "Called aside--
      We thank thee for the stillness and the shade;
      We thank Thee for the hidden paths Thy love hath made,
      And, so that we have wept and watched with Thee,
      
      We thank Thee for our dark Gethsemane.
      
      "Called aside--
      Oh, restful thought--He doeth all things well;
      Oh, blessed sense, with Christ alone to dwell;
      So in the shadow of Thy cross to hide,
      We thank Thee, Lord, to have been called aside."

 

 

 

 

 

TUESDAY

April 12

MORNING

By Death We Live
      
      "As dying and behold we live" (2 Cor. 6:9).
      
      I had a bed of asters last summer, that reached clear across my garden in the country. Oh, how gaily they bloomed. They were planted late. On the sides were yet fresh blossoming flowers, while the tops had gone to seed. Early frosts came, and I found one day that that long line of radiant beauty was seared, and I said, "Ah! the season is too much for them; they have perished"; and I bade them farewell.
      
      I disliked to go and look at the bed, it looked so like a graveyard of flowers. But, four or five weeks ago one of my men called my attention to the fact that along the whole line of that bed there were asters coming up in the greatest abundance; and I looked, and behold, for every plant that I thought the winter had destroyed there were fifty plants that it had planted. What did those frosts and surly winds do?
      
      They caught my flowers, they slew them, they cast them to the ground, they trod with snowy feet upon them, and they said, leaving their work, "This is the end of you." And the next spring there were for every root, fifty witnesses to rise up and say, "By death we live."
      
      And as it is in the floral tribe, so it is in God's kingdom. By death came everlasting life. By crucifixion and the sepulchre came the throne and the palace of the Eternal God. By overthrow came victory.
      
      Do not be afraid to suffer. Do not be afraid to be overthrown.
      
      It is by being cast down and not destroyed; it is by being shaken to pieces, and the pieces torn to shreds, that men become men of might, and that one a host; whereas men that yield to the appearance of things, and go with the world, have their quick blossoming, their momentary prosperity and then their end, which is an end forever.--Beecher
      
      "Measure thy life by loss and not by gain,
      Not by the wine drunk, but by the wine poured forth.
      For love's strength standeth in love's sacrifice,
      And he who suffers most has most to give."

 

 

 

WEDNESDAY

April 13

MORNING

 

   Joy in Prison
      
      "And Joseph's master took him, and put him into a prison . . . But Jehovah was with Joseph . . . and that which he did, Jehovah made it to prosper" (Gen. 39:20-23).
      
      When God lets us go to prison because we have been serving Him, and goes there with us, prison is about the most blessed place in the world that we could be in. Joseph seems to have known that. He did not sulk and grow discouraged and rebellious because ."everything was against him." If he had, the prison-keeper would never have trusted him so. Joseph does not even seem to have pitied himself.
      
      Let us remember that if self-pity is allowed to set in, that is the end of us--until it is cast utterly from us. Joseph just turned over everything in joyous trust to God, and so the keeper of the prison turned over everything to Joseph. Lord Jesus, when the prison doors close in on me, keep me trusting, and keep my joy full and abounding. Prosper Thy work through me in prison: even there, make me free indeed.--Selected
      
      A little bird I am,
      Shut from the fields of air,
      And in my cage I sit and sing
      To Him who placed me there;
      
      Well pleased a prisoner to be,
      Because, my God, it pleaseth Thee.
      My cage confines me round,
      Abroad I cannot fly,
      
      But though my wing is closely bound,
      My soul is at liberty;
      For prison walls cannot control
      The flight, the freedom of the soul.
      
      I have learnt to love the darkness of sorrow; there you see the brightness of His face.--Madame Guyon

 

 

 

 

THURSDAY

April 14

MORNING

 In Everything
      
      "In nothing be anxious" (Phil. 4:6).
      
      No anxiety ought to be found in a believer. Great, many and varied may be our trials, our afflictions, our difficulties, and yet there should be no anxiety under any circumstances, because we have a Father in Heaven who is almighty, who loves His children as He loves His only-begotten Son, and whose very joy and delight it is to succor and help them at all times and under all circumstances. We should attend to the Word, "In nothing be anxious, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."
      
      "In everything," that is not merely when the house is on fire, not merely when the beloved wife and children are on the brink of the grave, but in the smallest matters of life, bring everything before God, the little things, the very little things, what the world calls trifling things--everything--living in holy communion with our Heavenly Father, arid with our precious Lord Jesus all day long. And when we awake at night, by a kind of spiritual instinct again turning to Him, and speaking to Him, bringing our various little matters before Him in the sleepless night, the difficulties in connection with the family, our trade, our profession. Whatever tries us in any way, speak to the Lord about it.
      
      "By prayer and supplication," taking the place of beggars, with earnestness, with perseverance, going on and waiting, waiting, waiting on God.
      
      "With thanksgiving." We should at all times lay a good foundation with thanksgiving. If everything else were wanting, this is always present, that He has saved us from hell. Then, that He has given us His Holy Word--His Son, His choicest gift--and the Holy Spirit. Therefore we have abundant reason for thanksgiving. O let us aim at this!
      
      "And the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." And this is so great a blessing, so real a blessing, so precious a blessing, that it must be known experimentally to be entered into, for it passeth understanding. O let us lay these things to heart, and the result will be, if we habitually walk in this spirit, we shall far more abundantly glorify God, than as yet we have done. --George Mueller, in Life of Trust
      

      Twice or thrice a day, look to see if your heart is not disquieted about something; and if you find that it is, take care forthwith to restore it to calm.--Francis De Sales

 

 

FRIDAY

April 15

MORNING

 Desperate Situations
      
      "The angel of the Lord came upon him (Peter) and a light shined in the prison; and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off" (Acts 12:7).
      
      "And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God. . . . And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and every one's bands were loosed" (Acts 16:25, 26).
      
      This is God's way. In the darkest hours of the night, His tread draws near across the billows. As the day of execution is breaking, the angel comes to Peter's cell. When the scaffold for Mordecai is complete, the royal sleeplessness leads to a reaction in favor of the favored race.
      
      Ah, soul, it may have to come to the worst with thee ere thou art delivered; but thou wilt be delivered! God may keep thee waiting, but he will ever be mindful of His covenant, and will appear to fulfill His inviolable Word. --F. B. Meyer
      
      There's a simplicity about God in working out His plans, yet a resourcefulness equal to any difficulty, and an unswerving faithfulness to His trusting child, and an unforgetting steadiness in holding to His purpose. Through a fellow-prisoner, then a dream, He lifts Joseph from a prison to a premiership. And the length of stay in the prison prevents dizziness in the premier. It's safe to trust God's methods and to go by His clock. --S. D. Gordon
      
      Providence hath a thousand keys to open a thousand sundry doors for the deliverance of His own, when it is even come to a desperate case. Let us be faithful; and care for our own part which is to suffer for Him, and lay Christ's part on Himself, and leave it there.--George MacDonald
      
      Difficulty is the very atmosphere of miracle--it is miracle in its first stage. If it is to be a great miracle, the condition is not difficulty but impossibility.
      
      The clinging hand of His child makes a desperate situation a delight to Him.

 

 

 

SATURDAY

April 9

MORNING

    Broken Things
      
      "By reason of breakings they purify themselves" (Job 41:25).
      
      God uses most for His glory those people and things which are most perfectly broken. The sacrifices He accepts are broken and contrite hearts. It was the breaking down of Jacob's natural strength at Peniel that got him where God could clothe him with spiritual power. It was breaking the surface of the rock at Horeb, by the stroke of Moses' rod that let out the cool waters to thirsty people.
      
      It was when the 300 elect soldiers under Gideon broke their pitchers, a type of breaking themselves, that the hidden lights shone forth to the consternation of their adversaries. It was when the poor widow broke the seal of the little pot of oil, and poured it forth, that God multiplied it to pay her debts and supply means of support.
      
      It was when Esther risked her life and broke through the rigid etiquette of a heathen court, that she obtained favor to rescue her people from death. It was when Jesus took the five loaves and broke them, that the bread was multiplied in the very act of breaking, sufficient to feed five thousand. It was when Mary broke her beautiful alabaster box, rendering it henceforth useless, that the pent-up perfume filled the house. It was when Jesus allowed His precious body to be broken to pieces by thorns and nails and spear, that His inner life was poured out, like a crystal ocean, for thirsty sinners to drink and live.
      
      It is when a beautiful grain of corn is broken up in the earth by DEATH, that its inner heart sprouts forth and bears hundreds of other grains. And thus, on and on, through all history, and all biography, and all vegetation, and all spiritual life, God must have BROKEN THINGS.
      
      Those who are broken in wealth, and broken in self-will, and broken in their ambitions, and broken in their beautiful ideals, and broken in worldly reputation, and broken in their affections, and broken ofttimes in health; those who are despised and seem utterly forlorn and helpless, the Holy Ghost is seizing upon, and using for God's glory. "The lame take the prey," Isaiah tells us.
      
      O break my heart; but break it as a field Is by the plough up-broken for the corn; O break it as the buds, by green leaf seated, Are, to unloose the golden blossom, torn; Love would I offer unto Love's great Master, Set free the odor, break the alabaster.
      
      O break my heart; break it victorious God,
      That life's eternal well may flash abroad;
      O let it break as when the captive trees,
      Breaking cold bonds, regain their liberties;
      And as thought's sacred grove to life is springing,
      Be joys, like birds, their hope, Thy victory singing.
      --Thomas Toke Bunch

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Last Call: Weekly "Daily Light" (10th-16th)

 

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"All Devotional Posts are Presented in Weekly Format"

(Posted on Sunday for all Seven days of the Week)

 

 

 This Weeks  

 

SUNDAY

April 10

MORNING

I am black, but comely.—SONG 1:5.

 

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.—Thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God.

 

I am a sinful man, O Lord.—Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair.

 

I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.—Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.

 

When I would do good, evil is present with me.—Be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.

 

I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing—Ye are complete in him.—Perfect in Christ Jesus.

 

Ye are washed, . . . ye are sanctified, . . . ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.—That ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

 

Psa. 51:5. -Ezek. 16:14.Luke 5:8. -Song 4:1.Job 42:6. -Song 4:7.Rom. 7:21. -Matt. 9:2.Rom. 7:18. -Col. 2:10. -Col. 1:28.I Cor. 6:11. -I Pet. 2:9.

 

EVENING

All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.—II TIM. 3:12.

 

I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.—Whosoever . . . will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.—Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

 

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. The servant is not greater than his lord.—I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

 

Matt. 10:35,36. -Jas. 4:4. -I John 2:15,16.John 15:18-20. -John 17:14.

MONDAY

April 11

MORNING

In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.—PROV. 10:19.

 

My beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.—He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty: and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.—If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able to bridle the whole body.—By thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.—Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

 

Christ . . . suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.—Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

 

In their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

 

Jas. 1:19. -Prov. 16:32. -Jas. 3:2. -Matt. 12:37. -Psa. 141:3.I Pet. 2:21-23. -Heb. 12:3.Rev. 14:5.

 

 

EVENING

Teach me thy way, O Lord.—PSA. 27:11.

 

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.—Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.

 

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

 

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.—Having . . . boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.

 

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord.—All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

 

Psa. 32:8. -Psa. 25:8,9.John 10:9.John 14:6. -Heb. 10:19-22.Hos. 6:3. -Psa. 25:10.

TUESDAY

 April 12

MORNING

What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.—ROM. 8:3.

 

The law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered?—By him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

 

Forasmuch . . . as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren.

 

Heb. 10:1,2. -Acts 13:39.Heb. 2:14-17.

 

 

EVENING

All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.—ROM. 3:23.

 

There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.—There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.—How can he be clean that is born of a woman?

 

Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

 

I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

 

The Lord. . . hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.—Whom he justified, them he also glorified.—We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.—If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel.

 

Walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.

 

Rom. 3:10,12. -Eccl. 7:20. -Job 25:4.Heb. 4:1.Psa. 51:3,5.II Sam. 12:13. -Rom. 8:30. -II Cor. 3:18. -Col. 1:23.I Thes. 2:12.

 

WEDNESDAY

April 13

MORNING

Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.—PROV. 3:9.

 

He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.—Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him.

 

God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister.

 

I beseech you . . . brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.—The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.—Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

 

II Cor. 9:6. -I Cor. 16:2.Heb. 6:10.Rom. 12:l. -II Cor. 5:14,15. -I Cor. 10:31.

 

 

EVENING

There shall be no night there.—REV. 21:25.

 

The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.

 

The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.—They need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light.

 

Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.—Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.—Ye were sometime darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.

 

We are not of the night, nor of darkness.

 

The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

 

Isa. 60:19.Rev. 21:23. -Rev. 22:5.I Pet. 2:9. -Col. 1:12,13. -Eph. 5:8.I Thes. 5:5.Prov. 4:18.

 

THURSDAY

April 14

MORNING

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: when I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.—PSA. 63:5,6.

 

How precious . . . are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.—How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!—Thy love is better than wine.

 

Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.—Thou art fairer than the children of men.

 

As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.—His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend.

 

Psa. 139:17,18. -Psa. 119:103. -Song 1:2.Psa. 73:25. -Psa. 45:2.Song 2:3,4. -Song 5:15,16.

 

 

EVENING

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.—PSA. 51:12.

 

I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.

 

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.—Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God.—I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.

 

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.—He restoreth my soul.—O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.

 

Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.

 

I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

 

Isa. 57:18.Isa. 1:18. -Jer. 3:22. -Psa. 85:8.Psa. 103:2,3. -Psa. 23:3. -Isa. 12:1.Psa. 119:117.Isa. 43:25.

 

FRIDAY

April 15

MORNING

Their Redeemer is strong.—JER. 50:34.

 

I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins.—I have laid help upon one that is mighty.—The Lord. . . thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob.—Mighty to save.—Able to keep you from falling.—Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.

 

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.—He is able . . . to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him.

 

Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem?

 

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? . . . I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Amos 5:12. -Psa. 89:19. -Isa. 49:26. -Isa. 63:1. -Jude 24. -Rom. 5:20.John 3:18. -Heb. 7:25.Isa. 50:2.Rom. 8:35,38,39.

 

 

EVENING

Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not.—JER. 45:5.

 

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.—Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

 

He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.—Christ . . . suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.

 

Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

 

I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

 

Matt. 11:29. -Phi. 2:5-8.Matt. 10:38. -I Pet. 2:21.I Tim. 6:6-8.Phi. 4:11.

 

 

SATURDAY

April 16

MORNING

I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.—PSA. 31:22.

 

I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.—Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off. I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon. Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry. Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.

 

Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.—I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

 

Psa. 69:2. -Lam. 3:54-57.Psa. 77:7-11. -Psa. 27:13.

 

 

EVENING

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him.—PSA. 91:15.

 

And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.—Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said unto God, . . . Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people.—And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.

 

Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power . . . O Lord, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee. So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa.

 

O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.

 

I Chr. 4:10. -II Chr. 1:7,8,10. -I Kgs. 4:29.II Chr. 14:11,12.Psa. 65:2.

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