Day 3 - Tuesday | Daily Devotions | Morning and Evening: Daily Reading | Connect the Testaments | My Utmost for His Highest | Thoughts for the Quiet Hour |

 Morning, September 2 Go To Evening Reading

“But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.”

—Mark 1:30

Fascinating is this little peep into the house of the Apostolic Fisherman. We see at once that household joys and cares are no hindrance to the whole exercise of ministry, nay, that since they furnish an opportunity for personally witnessing the Lord’s gracious work upon one’s own flesh and blood, they may even instruct the teacher better than any other earthly discipline. Papists and other sectaries may decry marriage, but true Christianity and household life agree well together. Peter’s house was probably a poor fisherman’s hut, but the Lord of Glory entered it, lodged in it, and wrought a miracle in it. Should our little book be read this morning in some very humble cottage, let this fact encourage the inmates to seek the company of King Jesus. God is oftener in little huts than in rich palaces. Jesus is looking around your room now and is waiting to be gracious to you. Into Simon’s house, sickness had entered; fever in a deadly form had prostrated his mother-in-law, and as soon as Jesus came, they told him of the sad affliction, and he hastened to the patient’s bed. Do you have any sickness in the house this morning? You will find Jesus to be the best physician; go to Him at once and tell Him all about the matter. Immediately lay the case before him. It concerns one of his people, and therefore will not be trivial to him. Observe that at once the Saviour restored the sick woman; none can heal as he does. We may not make sure that the Lord will at once remove all disease from those we love, but we may know that believing prayer for the sick is far more likely to be followed by restoration than anything else in the world. Where this avails not, we must meekly bow to his will by whom life and death are determined. The tender heart of Jesus waits to hear our griefs; let us pour them into his patient ear.

Go To Morning Reading Evening, September 2

“Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.”

—John 4:48

A craving after marvels was a symptom of the sickly state of men’s minds in our Lord’s day; they refused solid nourishment and pined after mere wonder. The gospel which they so greatly needed, they would not have; the miracles which Jesus did not always choose to give, they eagerly demanded. Many people nowadays must see signs and wonders to believe. Some have said in their heart, “I must feel deep horror of soul, or I never will believe in Jesus.” But what if you never should feel it, as probably you never may? Will you go to hell out of spite against God, because he will not treat you like another? One has said to himself, “If I had a dream, or if I could feel a sudden shock of I know not what, then I would believe.” Thus, you undeserving mortals dream that my Lord is to be dictated to by you! You are beggars at his gate, asking for mercy, and you must needs draw up rules and regulations as to how he shall give that mercy. Do you think that he will submit to this? My Master is of a generous spirit, but he has a royal heart; he spurns all dictation and maintains his sovereignty of action.

Why, dear reader, if such be your case, do you crave for signs and wonders? Isn't the gospel its own sign and wonder? Is not this a miracle of miracles, that “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him might not perish”? Surely that precious word, “Whosoever will, let him come and take the water of life freely,” and that solemn promise, “Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out,” are better than signs and wonders! A truthful Saviour ought to be believed. He is truth itself. Why will you ask for proof of the veracity of One who cannot lie? The devils themselves declared him to be the Son of God; will you mistrust him?

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

September 2: Only the Very Beginning

Hosea 3:1–5:15; Acts 2:1–41; Job 15:10–20

Beginnings are exciting. The freshness of a new project or a new relationship sharpens our senses. When that novelty diminishes, though, it’s challenging to maintain the same level of excitement.

Acts 2 is all about beginnings. In this passage, we get an inside view of how God worked to gather a new community of believers to Himself. Pentecost and the arrival of the Holy Spirit marked a new era and gave rise to a new community, as both Jews and “devout men from every nation under heaven” converted to the Christian faith (Acts 2:5).

From where we stand, it’s easy for us to see Pentecost as the pivotal moment in the history of the Church—an unparalleled event that changed the world forever. Magnificent things happened. Peter gave a moving testimony. Three thousand people came to faith.

When we celebrate the holiday of Pentecost, however, we are remembering the firstfruits of the harvest—the coming of the Holy Spirit and the original community of believers under Jesus Christ. Firstfruits are only the start of a harvest; they hint at future abundance. The wonders that began at Pentecost continue to happen today. God is active and present in our lives, just as He was gathering His Church then.

We need a fresh perspective. We need the motivation and the boldness of Peter. We need to rekindle our original excitement when announcing that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, because He is at work, in us and around us.

How are you sharing this hope?

Rebecca Van Noord

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

September 2nd

The sacrament of sacrifice

He that believeth in Me, … out of him shall flow.… John 7:38.

Jesus did not say—‘he that believeth in Me shall realize the blessing of the fullness of God,’ but—‘he that believeth in Me, out of him shall escape everything he receives.’ Our Lord’s teaching is always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a man; His purpose is to make a man exactly like Himself, and the characteristic of the Son of God is self-expenditure. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain, but what He pours through us that counts. It is not that God makes us beautifully rounded grapes, but that He squeezes the sweetness out of us. Spiritually, we cannot measure our life by success, but only by what God pours through us, and we cannot measure that at all.

When Mary of Bethany broke the box of precious ointment and poured it on Jesus’ head, it was an act for which no one else saw any occasion; the disciples said it was a waste. But Jesus commended Mary for her extravagant act of devotion, and said that wherever His gospel was preached, “this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.” Our Lord is carried beyond Himself with joy when He sees any of us doing what Mary did, not being set on this or that economy, but being abandoned to Him. God spilled the life of His Son that the world might be saved; are we prepared to spill out our lives for Him?

“He that believeth in Me out of him shall flow rivers of living water,” that is, hundreds of other lives will be continually refreshed. It is time now to break the life, to cease craving for satisfaction, and to spill the thing out. Our Lord is asking Who of us will do it for Him?

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

September 2

Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.

Gal. 6:9

The hours of this present life are the ages in embryo of the life to come.

A. J. Gordon

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