Morning, August 30 Go To Evening Reading
“Wait on the Lord.”
—Psalm 27:14
It may seem easy to wait, but it is one of the postures a Christian soldier learns not without years of teaching. Marching and quick-marching are much easier for God’s warriors than standing still. There are hours of perplexity when the most willing spirit, anxiously desirous of serving the Lord, knows not what part to take. Then what shall it do? Vex itself by despair? Fly back in cowardice, turn to the right hand in fear, or rush forward in presumption? No, but simply wait. Wait in prayer, however. Call upon God, and spread the case before him; tell him your difficulty, and plead his promise of aid. In dilemmas between one duty and another, it is sweet to be humble as a child and wait with simplicity of soul upon the Lord. It is sure to be well with us when we feel and know our own folly and are heartily willing to be guided by the will of God. But wait in faith. Express your unstaggering confidence in him, for unfaithful, untrusting waiting is but an insult to the Lord. Believe that if he keeps you tarrying even till midnight, yet he will come at the right time; the vision shall come and shall not tarry. Wait in quiet patience, not rebelling because you are under the affliction, but blessing your God for it. Never murmur against the second cause, as the children of Israel did against Moses; never wish you could go back to the world again, but accept the case as it is, and put it as it stands, simply and with your whole heart, without any self-will, into the hand of your covenant God, saying, “Now, Lord, not my will, but thine be done. I know not what to do; I am brought to extremities, but I will wait until thou shalt cleave the floods or drive back my foes. I will wait, if thou keep me many a day, for my heart is fixed upon thee alone, O God, and my spirit waiteth for thee in the full conviction that thou wilt be my joy and my salvation, my refuge, and my strong tower.”
Go To Morning Reading Evening, August 30
“Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed.”
—Jeremiah 17:14
“I have seen his ways and will heal him.”
—Isaiah 57:18
It is the sole prerogative of God to remove spiritual disease. Natural diseases may be instrumentally healed by men. Still, even then, the honor is to be given to God who giveth virtue unto medicine and bestoweth power unto the human frame to cast off disease. As for spiritual sicknesses, these remain with the great Physician alone; he claims it as his prerogative, “I kill and I make alive, I wound, and I heal;” One of the Lord’s choice titles is Jehovah-Rophi, the Lord that healeth thee. “I will heal thee of thy wounds” is a promise which could not come from the lip of man but only from the mouth of the eternal God. On this account, the psalmist cried unto the Lord, “O Lord, heal me, for my bones are sore vexed,” and again, “Heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee.” For this, the godly also praises the Lord's name, saying, “He healeth all our diseases.” He who made man can restore man; he who was at first the creator of our nature can new create it. What a transcendent comfort it is that in the person of Jesus “dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily!” My soul, whatever thy disease may be, this great Physician can heal thee. If he is God, there can be no limit to his power. Come then with the blind eye of a darkened understanding, come with the limping foot of wasted energy, come with the maimed hand of weak faith, the fever of an angry temper, or the age of shivering despondency, come just as thou art, for he who is God can certainly restore thee of thy plague. None shall restrain the healing virtue which proceeds from Jesus our Lord. Legions of devils have been made to own the power of the beloved Physician, and never once has he been baffled. All his patients have been cured in the past and shall be in the future, and thou shalt be one among them, my friend, if thou wilt but rest thyself in him this night.
Spurgeon, C. H. Morning and Evening: Daily Readings. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896. Print.
August 30: Dawning of a New Era
Isaiah 63:1–64:12; Luke 23:26–24:12; Job 14:1–10
Jesus’ resurrection brings a new era. Although Jesus told His disciples and loved ones that He would suffer, die, and be raised on the third day (Luke 9:22), they didn’t fully comprehend His promise. The women prepare fragrant spices and perfumes for a burial ritual, expecting to find Jesus’ body in the tomb.
Instead, they found the stone rolled away, and the tomb emptied at the dawn of the first day of the week. The women were perplexed by their discovery, but the angels challenged them, reminding them of Jesus’ promise: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here but has been raised! Remember how he spoke to you while he was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of men who are sinners and be crucified, and on the third day rise?” (Luke 24:5–7).
Jesus’ resurrection presents new hope for the disciples and those who believe in Him. It also shows that He prophesied correctly about God’s saving plan—giving new hope for us. Jesus has the victory; death has no power over Him. We share in His death and resurrection by believing in Him, giving us incredible hope as we face life and death. Not only this, but we live knowing that our Savior is alive and acting on our behalf. We live in a new era.
How are you living in the hope of Jesus’ resurrection?
Rebecca Van Noord
Barry, John D., and Rebecca Kruyswijk. Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012. Print.
August 30th
Am I convinced by Christ?
Notwithstanding this, rejoice not …, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven. Luke 10:19, 20.
Jesus Christ says, in effect, Don’t rejoice in successful service, but rejoice because you are rightly related to Me. The snare in Christian work is to rejoice in successful service because God has used you. You can never measure what God will do through you if you are rightly related to Jesus Christ. Keep your relationship right with Him, then whatever circumstances you are in, and whoever you meet day by day, He is pouring rivers of living water through you, and it is of His mercy that He does not let you know it. When once you are rightly related to God by salvation and sanctification, remember that wherever you are, you are put there by God; and by the reaction of your life to the circumstances around you, you will fulfill God’s purpose, as long as you keep in the light as God is in the morning.
The tendency today is to put emphasis on service. Beware of the people who make usefulness their ground of appeal. If you make the test usefulness, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure ever. The lodestar of the saint is God Himself, not estimated usefulness. The work that God does through us counts, not what we do for Him. All that Our Lord heeds in a man’s life is the relationship of worth to His Father. Jesus is bringing many sons to glory.
Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year. Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986. Print.
August 30
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world
1 John 2:15
If you will go to the banks of a little stream and watch the flies that come to bathe in it, you will notice that, while they plunge their bodies into the water, they keep their wings high out of the water; and, after swimming about a bit of while, they fly away with their wings unwet through the sunny air. Now, that is the lesson for us. Here we are immersed in the cares and business of the world;, but let us keep the wings of our soul, our faith, and our love out of the world that, with these unclogged, we may be ready to take our flight to Heaven.
J. Inglis
Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour. Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.
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