Day 2 - Monday - Daily Devotions - Logos

 Morning, May 1 Go To Evening Reading

“His cheeks are like a bed of spices, sweet flowers.”

—Song of Solomon 5:13

Lo, the flowery month is coming! March winds and April showers have done their work, and the earth is all bedecked with beauty. Come to my soul, wear your holiday attire, and gather garlands of heavenly thoughts. Thou know whither to betake thyself, for “the beds of spices” are well known, and thou hast so often smelt the perfume of “the sweet flowers,” that thou wilt go at once to thy well-beloved and find all loveliness, all joy in him. That cheek once so rudely smitten with a rod, oft bedewed with tears of sympathy and then defiled with spittle—that cheek as it smiles with mercy is as fragrant aromatic to my heart. Thou didst not hide thy face from shame and spitting, O Lord Jesus, and therefore I will find my dearest delight in praising thee. Those cheeks were furrowed by the plow of grief and crimsoned with red lines of blood from thy thorn-crowned temples; such marks of love unbounded cannot but charm my soul far more than “pillars of perfume.” If I may not see the whole of his face, I would behold his cheeks, for the slightest glimpse of him is exceedingly refreshing to my spiritual sense and yields a variety of delights. In Jesus, I find not only fragrance but a bed of spices, not one flower, but all sweet flowers. He is my rose and lily, my heart’s-ease and my cluster of camphire to me. When he is with me, it is May all year round, and my soul goes forth to wash her happy face in the morning dew of his grace and to solace herself with the singing of the birds of his promises. Precious Lord Jesus, let me know the blessedness which dwells in abiding, unbroken fellowship with thee. I am a poor worthless one whose cheek thou hast deigned to kiss! Let me kiss thee in return with the kisses of my lips.

Go To Morning Reading Evening, May 1

“I am the rose of Sharon.”

—Song of Solomon 2:1

Whatever there may be beauty in the material world, Jesus Christ possesses all that in the spiritual world to a tenfold degree. Amongst flowers, the rose is deemed the sweetest, but Jesus is infinitely more beautiful in the garden of the soul than the rose can be in the gardens of earth. He takes first place as the fairest among ten thousand. He is the sun, and all others are the stars; the heavens and the day are dark compared to him, for the King in his beauty transcends all. “I am the rose of Sharon.” This was the best and rarest of roses. Jesus is not “the rose” alone; he is “the rose of Sharon,” just as he calls his righteousness “gold” and then adds, “the gold of Ophir”—the best of the best. He is positively lovely and superlatively the most beautiful. There is variety in his charms. The rose is delightful to the eye, and its scent is pleasant and refreshing, so each of the senses of the soul, whether it be the taste or feeling, the hearing, the sight, or the spiritual smell, finds appropriate gratification in Jesus. Even the recollection of his love is sweet. Take the rose of Sharon, pull it leaf from leaf, and lay by the leaves in the jar of memory, and you shall find each leaf fragrant long afterward, filling the house with perfume. Christ satisfies the highest taste of the most educated spirit to the very full. The most excellent amateur in perfumes is quite satisfied with the rose: and when the soul has arrived at her highest pitch of authentic taste, she shall still be content with Christ; nay, she shall be better able to appreciate him. Heaven itself possesses nothing which excels the rose of Sharon. What emblem can fully set forth his beauty? Human speech and earth-born things fail to tell of him. Earth’s choicest charms commingled, feebly picturing his abounding preciousness. Blessed rose, bloom in my heart forever!

 Spurgeon, C. H. Morning and Evening: Daily Readings. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896. Print.

May 1: Who Will Fight for Us?

Judges 1:1–2:10; Philippians 1:1–11; Psalm 61:1–62:12

“Who will go up first for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?” (Judg 1:1).

I’ve felt this way before—wondering who will be my advocate in my time of need. It’s ironic that we are surrounded by people and have constant access to communication, yet we can still feel alone. In a world of ambient noise, we often feel that no one is there to come to our aid. Most of us do have people to help us; it’s just that we’re not willing to ask for help. We always have someone who will be our guide in times of distress.

Paul tells us that it is Christ “who began a good work in you [and He] will finish it until the day [He returns]” (Phil 1:6). In essence, the story of Paul and the Philippian believers’ struggles is really the same told in the book of Judges. God’s people are at war against powers seen and unseen (Phil 3:1–4; compare Col 1:16). They feel lonely and wounded, but when they search their hearts, they see God rising up to defend them. In Judges, He sends His people great advocates who go before them in battle. In Philippians, we see Paul telling his story to a church needing a leader so they can look to his example (e.g., Phil 1:12–25; 3:1–21). We also see Paul repeatedly point to the most outstanding example: Christ (e.g., Phil 1:9–11).

In the humility of his situation, Paul sees God at work (Phil 2). When God’s people found themselves in dire circumstances, being opposed by outside forces, they saw God come to their aid (e.g., Judg 4). Christ is our advocate before God the Father and our guide in this life, which can often be confusing and disheartening. God’s faithfulness in guiding and loving His people remains the same today as yesterday, but now we see an even greater manifestation of that love in Jesus.

What humbling situation are you going through? How can you hand it over to God and trust in His providence?

John D. Barry

 Barry, John D., and Rebecca Kruyswijk. Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan. Print. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012.

May 1st

Insight, not emotion

Without seeing Him, I must lead my life in faith. 2 Cor. 5:7. (Moffatt.)

For a time, we are conscious of God’s attention; then, when God begins to use us in His enterprises, we take on a pathetic look and talk of the trials and the difficulties, and all the time, God is trying to make us do our duty as obscure people. None of us would be obscure spiritually if we could help it. Can we do our task when God has shut up heaven? Some of us always want to be illuminated saints with golden haloes and the flush of inspiration and to have the saints of God dealing with us all the time. A guilt-edged saint is no good; he is abnormal, unfit for daily life, and unlike God. We are here as men and women, not as half-fledged angels, to do the world's work and to do it with infinitely greater power to stand the turmoil because we have been born from above.

If we try to re-introduce the rare moments of inspiration, it is a sign that it is not God we want. We are making a fetish of the moments when God did come and speak and insisting that He must do it again, whereas what God wants us to do is to walk by faith. How many of us have laid ourselves by, as it were, and said—‘I cannot do any more until God appears to me.’ He never will; without any inspiration or sudden touch of God, we will have to get up. Then comes the surprise—‘Why, He was always there, and I never knew it!’ Never live for the rare moments; they are surprises. God will give us touches of inspiration when He sees we are not in danger of being led away by them. We must never make our moments of inspiration our standard; our standard is our duty.

 Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year. Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986. Print.

May 1st

Insight, not emotion

Without seeing Him, I must lead my life in faith. 2 Cor. 5:7. (Moffatt.)

For a time, we are conscious of God’s attention; then, when God begins to use us in His enterprises, we take on a pathetic look and talk of the trials and the difficulties, and all the time, God is trying to make us do our duty as obscure people. None of us would be obscure spiritually if we could help it. Can we do our task when God has shut up heaven? Some of us always want to be illuminated saints with golden haloes and the flush of inspiration and to have the saints of God dealing with us all the time. A guilt-edged saint is no good; he is abnormal, unfit for daily life, and unlike God. We are here as men and women, not as half-fledged angels, to do the world's work and to do it with infinitely greater power to stand the turmoil because we have been born from above.

If we try to re-introduce the rare moments of inspiration, it is a sign that it is not God we want. We are making a fetish of the moments when God did come and speak and insisting that He must do it again, whereas what God wants us to do is to walk by faith. How many of us have laid ourselves by, as it were, and said—‘I cannot do any more until God appears to me.’ He never will; without any inspiration or sudden touch of God, we will have to get up. Then comes the surprise—‘Why, He was always there, and I never knew it!’ Never live for the rare moments; they are surprises. God will give us touches of inspiration when He sees we are not in danger of being led away by them. We must never make our moments of inspiration our standard; our standard is our duty.

 Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year. Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986. Print.

May 1

Thou art my God: early will I seek thee

Ps. 63:1

In a world with so much to ruffle the spirit’s plumes, how needful that entering into the secret of God’s pavilion will bring it back to composure and peace! In a world with so much to sadden and depress, how blessed is the communion with Him in whom is the one trustworthy source and fountain of all true gladness and abiding joy! In a world where so much is ever seeking to unhallow our spirits, to render them familiar and profane, how high the privilege of consecrating them anew in prayer to holiness and to God.

Archbishop Trench

 Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour. Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.