Day 1 - Lord's Day - Sunday | Daily Devotions | Morning and Evening: Daily Reading | Connect The Testaments | My Utmost for His Highest | Thoughts for the Quiet Hour |

 Morning, October 12 Go To Evening Reading

“I will meditate in thy precepts.”

—Psalm 119:15

There are times when solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser than speech. We should be better Christians if we were more alone, waiting upon God, and gathering through meditation on His Word spiritual strength for labour in his service. We ought to muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. Truth is something like the cluster of the vine: if we would have wine from it, we must bruise it; we must press and squeeze it many times. The bruiser’s feet must come down joyfully upon the bunches, or else the juice will not flow; and they must well tread the grapes, or else much of the precious liquid will be wasted. So we must, by meditation, tread the clusters of truth, if we would get the wine of consolation therefrom. Our bodies are not supported by merely taking food into the mouth; the process that truly supplies the muscle, nerve, sinew, and bone is digestion. It is by digestion that the outward food becomes assimilated with the inner life. Our souls are not nourished merely by listening awhile to this, and then to that, and then to the other part of divine truth. Hearing, reading, marking, and learning all require inwardly digesting to complete their usefulness, and the inward digesting of the truth lies, for the most part, in meditating upon it. Why is it that some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make but slow advances in the divine life? Because they neglect their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God’s Word. They love the wheat, but they do not grind it; they would have the corn, but they will not go forth into the fields to gather it; the fruit hangs upon the tree, but they will not pluck it; the water flows at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it. From such folly deliver us, O Lord, and be this our resolve this morning, “I will meditate in thy precepts.”

Go To Morning Reading Evening, October 12

“The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost.”

—John 14:26

This age is peculiarly the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, in which Jesus cheers us, not by his personal presence, as he shall do by-and-by, but by the indwelling and constant abiding of the Holy Ghost, who is evermore the Comforter of the church. It is his office to console the hearts of God’s people. He convinces of sin; he illuminates and instructs, but still the central part of his work lies in making glad the hearts of the renewed, in confirming the weak, and lifting up all those that be bowed down. He does this by revealing Jesus to them. The Holy Spirit consoles, but Christ is the consolation. If we may use the figure, the Holy Spirit is the Physician, but Jesus is the medicine. He heals the wound, but it is by applying the holy ointment of Christ’s name and grace. He takes note of his own things, but of the things of Christ. So if we give to the Holy Spirit the Greek name of Paraclete, as we sometimes do, then our heart confers on our blessed Lord Jesus the title of Paraclesis. If the one is the Comforter, the other is the Comfort. Now, with such rich provision for his need, why should the Christian be sad and desponding? The Holy Spirit has graciously engaged to be thy Comforter: dost thou imagine, O thou weak and trembling believer, that he will be negligent of his sacred trust? Canst thou suppose that he has undertaken what he cannot or will not perform? If it be his especial work to strengthen thee, and to comfort thee, dost thou suppose he has forgotten his business, or that he will fail in the loving office which he sustains towards thee? Nay, think not so hardly of the tender and blessed Spirit whose name is “the Comforter.” He delights to give the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Trust thou in him, and he will surely comfort thee till the house of mourning is closed for ever, and the marriage feast has begun.

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

October 12: Kingdom Politics

Ezekiel 24:1–25:17; Revelation 11:15–12:17; Job 36:1–12

We sometimes jump on the bandwagon with politics. Yet if we put our full trust in political candidates, or believe their rise to power is an indication of our future—a common campaign platform—we’re putting our hope in something transitory. No earthly person or kingdom has absolute rule. The book of Revelation surprisingly portrays this.

In the last book of the Bible, God’s judgment is loosed, and it can be overwhelming to read and interpret. Six trumpets, blown consecutively by angels, unleash God’s judgment. When the seventh trumpet blows, we expect judgment to be set in motion yet again. Instead, a loud voice from heaven announces a different, glorious event: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever” (Rev 11:15).

This seems like a strange turn of events, but it’s the culmination of plans and actions that have been happening all along. The initiation of God’s kingdom is prophesied throughout the Bible, and it is presented in John’s vision to bring hope. All of God’s judgments have a purpose. They terminate an old way of life to usher in a new one—a life guided by the eternal reign of God.

In some ways, the arrival of God’s kingdom is a judgment—it’s a judgment on all other kingdoms. John’s vision would have been a comforting reminder to the early church that the kingdoms of this age are transitory. Their flawed, corrupt rule is not forever. And while the kingdoms of the world come and go, God’s kingdom will never end.

We can be hopeful, then, in hopeless situations. We need not feel morose or hopeless when the factions and kingdoms of the world struggle and disappoint. God’s eternal kingdom—His exclusive, righteous rule—is our hope.

How are you living like a member of God’s kingdom, not the kingdom of this world?

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).

October 12th

Getting into God’s stride

Enoch walked with God. Genesis 5:24.

The test of a man’s religious life and character is not what he does in the exceptional moments of life, but what he does in the ordinary times, when there is nothing tremendous or exciting on. The worth of a man is revealed in his attitude to ordinary things when he is not before the footlights. (Cf. John 1:36. It is a painful stride of God; it's a business to get through, which means getting your ‘second wind’ spiritually. In learning to walk with God, there is always the difficulty of getting into His stride, but once we do, the only characteristic that manifests itself is the life of God. The individual man is lost sight of in his personal union with God, and the stride and the power of God alone are manifested.

It is difficult to get into stride with God, because when we start walking with Him, we find He has outstripped us before we have taken three steps. He has different ways of doing things, and we have to be trained and disciplined in His ways. It was said of Jesus, “He shall not fail nor be discouraged,” because He never worked from His own individual standpoint but always from the perspective of His Father. We have to learn to do the same. Spiritual truth is discovered by atmosphere, not by intellectual reasoning. God’s Spirit alters the atmosphere of our perspective, and things begin to seem possible in ways they never were before. Getting into the stride of God means nothing less than union with Himself. It takes a long time to get there, but keep at it. Don’t give in because the pain is bad just now; get on with it, and before long, you will find you have a new vision and a new purpose.

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

October 12

Surely God is in this place, and I knew it not

Gen. 28:16

The Parish Priest, of austerity,

Climbed up in the high church steeple

To be nearer God, that he might hand

His word went down to the people.

And in the sermon script he daily wrote

What he thought was sent from heaven;

And he dropped it down on the people’s heads

Two times a day, once a week.

In his age, God said, “Come down and die.”

And he cried out from the steeple:

“Where art thou, Lord?” And the Lord replied:

“Down here among My people.”

Selected

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