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 Morning, July 30 Go To Evening Reading

“And when he thought thereon, he wept.”

—Mark 14:72

Some have thought that as long as Peter lived, the fountain of his tears began to flow whenever he remembered his denying his Lord. It is not unlikely that it was so, for his sin was very significant, and grace in him had afterward a perfect work. This same experience is common to all the redeemed families according to the degree to which the Spirit of God has removed the natural heart of stone. We, like Peter, remember our boastful promise: “Though all men shall forsake thee, yet will not I.” We eat our own words with the bitter herbs of repentance. When we think of what we vowed to be and what we have been, we may weep whole showers of grief. He thought about his denying his Lord. The place where he did it, the little cause that led him into such heinous sin, the oaths and blasphemies with which he sought to confirm his falsehood, and the dreadful hardness of heart drove him to do so again and again. When we are reminded of our sins and their exceeding sinfulness, can we remain stolid and stubborn? Will we not make our house a Bochim and cry unto the Lord for renewed assurances of pardoning love? May we never take a dry-eyed look at sin, lest ere long we have a tongue parched in the flames of hell. Peter also thought upon his Master’s look of love. The Lord followed up the cock’s warning voice with an admonitory look of sorrow, pity, and love. That glance was never out of Peter’s mind so long as he lived. It was far more effectual than ten thousand sermons without the Spirit. The penitent apostle would be sure to weep when he recollected the Saviour’s complete forgiveness, which restored him to his former place. To think that we have offended so kind and good a Lord is a sufficient reason for being constant weepers. Lord, smite our rocky hearts and make the waters flow.

Go To Morning Reading Evening, July 30

“Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.”

—John 6:37

No limit is set to the duration of this promise. It does not merely say, “I will not cast out a sinner at his first coming,” but, “I will in no wise cast out.” The original reads, “I will not, not cast out,” or “I will never, never cast out.” The text means that Christ will not initially reject a believer and that as he will not do it at first, he will not do it to the last.

But suppose the believer sins after coming? “If any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” But suppose that believers backslide? “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine, anger is turned away from him.” But believers may fall under temptation! “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” But the believer may fall into sin as David did! Yes, but he will “Purge them with hyssop, and they shall be clean; he will wash them, and they shall be whiter than snow”; “From all their iniquities will I cleanse them.”

“Once in Christ, in Christ forever,

Nothing from his love can sever.”

“I give unto my sheep,” saith he, “eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” What sayest thou to this, O trembling feeble mind? Is not this a precious mercy, that coming to Christ, thou dost not come to One who will treat thee well for a little while, and then send thee about thy business, but he will receive thee and make thee his bride, and thou shalt be his forever? Receive no longer the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption whereby thou shalt cry, Abba, Father! Oh! The grace of these words: “I will in no wise cast out.”

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

Courageous and trustworthy. She is hardworking, discerning, giving, dignified, business savvy, wise, and kind. If we’re looking for a vice or an Achilles heel, we’ll have to turn to another passage in the ot (we’re sure to find more failures than achievers within its pages).

As we look through the list of qualities, it’s hard to check them all off, even for Type-A personalities. But the key to understanding the list of characteristics isn’t found in what we can attain. It’s located in the last verse—the crux of the poem. The crown of the woman’s wisdom isn’t her charm, beauty, or ability to “get things done.” It is her fear of Yahweh. This relationship with God guides all of her actions.

If we’re trying to earn favor with God by being “the best version of myself” or “being the best me,” we’ll fail miserably. If we live to define ourselves by a task or role, we’ll fall short every time. God’s work in us—through Christ—represents us.

As redeemed people, we can strive to be wise and discerning thanks to the work of the Spirit. We can strive to be stewards of the time He’s given us. We can strive to live unselfishly in all of our relationships. When we fail or fall short, we can trust that it’s not on our own merit that we find favor with Him. His favor extends from His enduring faithfulness to us.

How do you rest in the “fear of the Lord”? How do all of your actions proceed from your relationship with Him?

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.

December 30th

“And every virtue we possess.”

All my fresh springs shall be in Thee. Psalm 87:7 (P.B.V.).

Our Lord never patches up our natural virtues; he remakes the whole man on the inside. “Put on the new man”—see that your wild human life puts on the garb that is in keeping with the new life. The life God plants in us develops its own virtues, not the virtues of Adam but of Jesus Christ. Watch how God will wither up your confidence in natural virtues after sanctification and in any power you have until you learn to draw your life from the reservoir of the resurrection life of Jesus. Thank God if you are going through a drying-up experience!

The sign that God is at work in us is that He corrupts confidence in the natural virtues because they are not promises of what we will be but remnants of what God created man to be. We will cling to the natural virtues while God is trying to get us into contact with the life of Jesus Christ all the time, which can never be described in terms of the natural virtues. It is the saddest thing to see people in the service of God depending on the grace God never gave them, depending on what they have by the accident of heredity. God does not build up our natural virtues and transfigures them because our natural virtues can never come anywhere near what Jesus Christ wants. No genuine love, no natural patience, no natural purity can ever come up to His demands. But as we bring every bit of our bodily life into harmony with the new life that God has put in us, He will exhibit the virtues of the Lord Jesus.

‘And every virtue we possess

Is His alone?’

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

December 30

Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord

Gen. 6:8

Noah found grace in the same way that Paul obtained mercy (1 Tim. 1:16), namely, by mercy’s taking hold of him.

Selected

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