Day 2 - Monday - Today's Devotions - Logos

 Morning, March 7 Go To Evening Reading

“Have faith in God.”

—Mark 11:22

Faith is the foot of the soul by which it can march along the road of the commandments. Love can make the feet move more swiftly, but faith is the foot that carries the soul. Faith is the oil enabling the wheels of holy devotion and earnest piety to move well, and without faith, the wheels are taken from the chariot, and we drag heavily. With faith, I can do all things; without faith, I shall neither have the inclination nor the power to do anything in the service of God. If you would find the men who serve God the best, you must look for the men of the most faith. Little faith will save a man, but little faith cannot do great things for God. Poor Little-faith could not have fought “Apollyon;” it needed “Christian” to do that. Poor Little-faith could not have slain “Giant Despair;” it required “Great-heart’s” arm to knock that monster down. Little faith will undoubtedly go to Heaven, but it often has to hide in a nutshell, and it frequently loses all but its jewels. Little-faith says, “It is a rough road, beset with sharp thorns, and full of dangers; I am afraid to go;” but Great-faith remembers the promise, “Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; as thy days, so shall thy strength be:” and so she boldly ventures. Little-faith stands desponding, mingling her tears with the flood, but Great-faith sings, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:” and she fords the stream at once. Would you be comfortable and happy? Would you enjoy religion? Would you have the religion of cheerfulness and not that of gloom? Then “have faith in God.” If you love darkness and are satisfied to dwell in sorrow and misery, then be content with little faith; but if you love the sunshine and would sing songs of rejoicing, covet this best gift, “great faith earnestly.”

Go To Morning Reading Evening, March 7

“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”

—Psalm 118:8

Doubtless, the reader has been tempted to rely upon the things seen instead of resting alone upon the invisible God. Christians often look to man for help and counsel and mar the noble simplicity of their reliance upon their God. Does this evening’s portion meet the eye of a child of God anxious about temporals, then would we reason with him awhile. You trust in Jesus, and only in Jesus, for your salvation, then why are you troubled? “Because of my great care.” Is it not written, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord”? “Be careful with nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication make known your wants unto God.” Cannot you trust God for temporals? “Ah! I wish I could.” If you cannot trust God for temporals, how dare you trust him for spirituals? Can you trust him for your soul’s redemption and not rely upon him for a few lesser mercies? Is not God enough for thy need, or is his all-sufficiency too narrow for thy wants? Dost thou want another eye beside that of him who sees every secret thing? Is his heart faint? Is his arm weary? If so, seek another God; but if he is infinite, omnipotent, faithful, trustworthy, and all-wise, why gaddest thou abroad so much to seek another confidence? Why dost thou rake the earth to find another foundation when this is strong enough to bear all the weight thou canst ever build thereon? Christian, mix not only thy wine with water, do not alloy thy gold of faith with the dross of human confidence. Wait for thou only upon God, and let thine expectation be from him. Covet not Jonah’s gourd, but rest in Jonah’s God. Let the sandy foundations of terrestrial trust be the choice of fools, but do thou, like one who foresees the storm, build for thyself an abiding place upon the Rock of Ages.

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

March 7: Concerning Knowledge and Eating Meat

Numbers 7:1–47; John 14:1–31; Psalm 8:1–9

It’s easy to equate knowledge with faith and look down on new believers. Although we might not voice it, those less knowledgeable in their faith can seem weak. And sometimes, instead of practicing patience, showing love, and speaking carefully about the hope within us, we enroll them in Bible boot camp for dummies.

But Jesus shows that love is what leads to growth in faith: “If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and will take up residence with him. The one who does not love me does not keep my words, and the word that you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me” (John 14:23–24).

Paul echoes this in his letter to the Corinthians: “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone thinks he knows anything, he has not yet known as it is necessary to know” (1 Cor 8:1–2). In reality, the opposite of what we believe is true: anyone who lacks love actually lacks faith (1 Cor 8:3).

Love defines our relationship with God and with each other. Christ died for both the knowledgeable and the weak, caught up in His sacrifice (1 Cor 8:11). God has love and patience for the people whose own search for knowledge led us away from Him. And this should give us all more love and tolerance for each other.

How can you practice humility and love with those who haven’t been in the faith as long as you have?

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.

March 7

Undaunted radiance

Nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. Romans 8:37.

Paul is speaking of the things that might seem likely to separate or wedge in between the saint and the love of God, but the remarkable thing is that nothing can wedge in between the love of God and the saint. These things can and do come in between the devotional exercises of the soul and God and separate individual life from God, but none of them can wedge in between the love of God and the soul of the saint. The bedrock of our Christian faith is the unmerited, fathomless marvel of the love of God exhibited on the Cross of Calvary, a love we never can and never shall merit. Paul says this is why we are more than conquerors in all these things, super-victors, with a joy we would not have but for the very things that look as if they are going to overwhelm us.

The surf that distresses the ordinary swimmer produces the super joy of going clean through it in the surf-rider. Apply that to our own circumstances; these very things—tribulation, distress, and persecution- produce super joy in us; they are not things to fight. We are more than conquerors through Him in all these things, not despite them, but in the midst of them. The saint never knows the joy of the Lord despite tribulation, but because of it. “I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation,” says Paul.

Undaunted radiance is not built on anything passing but on the love of God that nothing can alter. The experiences of life, terrible or monotonous, are impotent to touch the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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

March 7

He that sent me is with me; the Father hath not left me alone, for I always do those things that please him.

John 8:29

He who holds the nearest communion with Heaven can best discharge the duties of everyday life.

Selected

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