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

 Morning, September 10 Go To Evening Reading

"And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him."

—Mark 3:13

Here was sovereignty. Impatient spirits may fret and fume because they are not called to the highest places in the ministry, but the reader is made to rejoice that Jesus calleth whom he wills. If he leaves me to be a doorkeeper in his house, I will cheerfully bless him for his grace permitting me to do anything in his service. The call of Christ's servants comes from above. Jesus stands on the mountain, evermore above the world in holiness, earnestness, love, and power. Those he calls must go up the hill to him; they must seek to rise to his level by living in constant communion with him. They may not be able to mount to classic honors or attain scholastic eminence, but they must, like Moses go up into the mount of God and have familiar intercourse with the unseen God, or they will never be fitted to proclaim the gospel of peace. Jesus went apart to hold high fellowship with the Father, and we must enter into the same divine companionship if we would bless our fellowmen. No wonder the apostles were clothed with power when they came down fresh from the mountain where Jesus was. This morning, we must endeavor to ascend the mount of communion so that we may be ordained to the lifework for which we are set apart. Let us not see the face of man today till we see Jesus. Time spent with him is laid out at blessed interest. We, too, shall cast out devils and work wonders if we go down into the world girded with that divine energy Christ alone can give. Going to the Lord's battle is useless until we are armed with heavenly weapons. We must see Jesus; this is essential. At the mercy seat, we will linger until he manifests himself unto us as he doth not unto the world and until we can truthfully say, "We were with him in the Holy Mount."

Go To Morning Reading Evening, September 10

"Evening wolves."

—Habakkuk 1:8

While preparing the present volume, this particular expression recurred to me so frequently that to be rid of its constant opportunity, I determined to give a page to it. The evening wolf, infuriated by a day of hunger, was fiercer and ravenous than he would have been in the morning. May not the furious creature represent our doubts and fears after a day of distraction of mind, losses in business, and perhaps ungenerous tauntings from our fellow men? Our thoughts howl in our ears, "Where is now thy God?" How voracious and greedy they are, swallowing up all suggestions of comfort and remaining as hungry as before. Great Shepherd, slay these evening wolves and bid thy sheep lie down in green pastures, undisturbed by insatiable unbelief. How like are the fiends of hell to evening wolves, for when the flock of Christ is in a cloudy and dark day, and their sun seems to be going down, they hasten to tear and to devour. They will scarcely attack the Christian in the daylight of faith, but they fall upon him in the gloom of soul conflict. O thou who hast laid down thy life for the sheep, preserve them from the wolf's fangs.

False teachers who craftily and industriously hunt for precious life, devouring men by their falsehoods, are as dangerous and detestable as evening wolves. Darkness is their element, deceit is their character, and destruction is their end. We are most in danger from them when they wear the sheep's skin. Blessed is he who is kept from them, for thousands are made the prey of grievous wolves that enter within the fold of the church.

What a wonder of grace it is when fierce persecutors are converted, for the wolf dwells with the lamb, and men of cruel, ungovernable dispositions become gentle and teachable. O Lord, convert many such: for such we will pray tonight.

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

September 10: God Doesn't Promise Ease of Invisibility

Amos 4:6–5:27; Acts 9:20–43; Job 20:1–11

As Christians, we might be tempted by the lure of invisibility—the fabled cloak or ring that gives us the power to walk undetected among our friends or enemies. Although it is true that "making much of God" means making little of ourselves, we sometimes use this truth as an excuse to avoid proclaiming God's work in our lives. Living under the radar is much more comfortable.

Paul never chose the comfortable route. As a former persecutor of the Church, Paul knew the danger of preaching Christ in the open—the chief priests had once empowered him to imprison all who publically professed Christ (Acts 9:14). Yet as a new convert, Paul loudly proclaimed the name of Christ to anybody within hearing distance: "And he was going in and going out among them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. And he was speaking and debating with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they were trying to do away with him" (Acts 9:28–29).

Most of us know that life as a Christian won't be easy. But what is our image of a life of ease? Is it overstuffed chairs, butlers, and bulging bank accounts? Is it remaining silent when we should confess the name of Christ? Or is it judging from afar when we should be coming alongside people in their pain and brokenness? If we follow Paul's brazen example, we will boldly and wisely share Christ in every possible circumstance.

Are you choosing invisibility? How can you boldly and wisely proclaim Christ?

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 10

Missionary munitions

Worshipping as OOccasionserves. When thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. John 1:48.

We would be all right if a big crisis arose, but it would only reveal the stuff we are made of; it would not put anything into us. 'If God gives the call, I will rise to the occasion.' You will not unless you have risen to the occasion in the workshop and have been the real thing before God there. Occasionally, you are not doing the thing that lies nearest because God has engineered it; when the crisis comes, instead of being revealed as fit, you will be shown as unfit. Crises always reveal character.

The private relationship of worshipping God is an essential part of fitness. The time comes when there is no more 'fig-tree' life possible, when it is out into the open, out into the glare, and into the work, and you will find yourself of no value there if you have not been worshipping as occasion serves you in your home. Worship aright in your private relationships, Occasionen God sets you free you will be ready because n the unseen life which no one saw but God you have become perfectly fit, and when the strain comes you can be relied upon by God.

'I can't be expected to live the sanctified life in my circumstances; I have no time for praying just now, no time for Bible reading; my opportunity hasn't come yet; when it does, of course, I shall be all right.' No, you will not. If you have not been worshipping as occasion serves when you get into work, you will not only be useless yourself but an endows hindrance to those associated with you.

The workshop of missionary munitions is the saint's hidden, personal, worshipping life.

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

September 10

In the daytime … he led them with a cloud and all the night with a light of fire.

Ps. 78:14

My day is my prosperity; it is the time when the sun of fortune is bright above me, and, therefore, it is the time when I need shade. If my sunshine were not checkered, I would forget Thee, O my God.

But I have nights and days to meet. The night is my adversity; it is the time when the sun of fortune has gone down behind the hills, and I am left alone, and then it is, O my Father, that I need the light of Thy fire! My light of fire for the night is the vision of Calvary—the vision of Thy love in the cross. I need the light of Thy fire "all the night."

George Matheson

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