Day 6 - Friday | Daily Devotions | Morning and Evening: Daily Reading | Connect the Testaments | My Utmost for His Highest | Thoughts for Today |

 Morning, September 27 Go To Evening Reading

"Happy art thou, O Israel; who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord!"

—Deuteronomy 33:29

He who affirms that Christianity makes men miserable is himself an utter stranger to it. It was strange if it made us wretched, for see to what a position it exalts us! It makes us sons of God. Suppose that God will give all the happiness to his enemies and reserve all the mourning for his own family? Shall his foes have mirth and joy, and shall his home-born children inherit sorrow and wretchedness? Shall the sinner, who has no part in Christ, call himself rich in happiness, and shall we go mourning as if we were penniless beggars? No, we will rejoice in the Lord always and glory in our inheritance, for we "have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but we have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." The rod of chastisement must rest upon us in our measure, but it worketh for us the comfortable fruits of righteousness; therefore, by the aid of the divine Comforter, we, the "people saved of the Lord," will joy in the God of our salvation.

We are married unto Christ, and shall our great Bridegroom permit his spouse to linger in constant grief? Our hearts are knit unto him: we are his members, and though we may suffer as our Head once suffered for a while, we are even now blessed with heavenly blessings in him. We have the earnest of our inheritance in the comforts of the Spirit, which are neither few nor small. Inheritors of joy forever, we have foretastes of our portion. There are streaks of the light of joy to herald our eternal sun rising. Our riches are beyond the sea; our city with firm foundations lies on the other side of the river; gleams of glory from the spirit world cheer our hearts and urge us onward. Truly is it said of us," "Happy art thou, O Israel; who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord""

Go To Morning Reading Evening, September 27

""My Beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him""

—Song of Solomon 5:4

Knocking was not enough, for my heart was too full of sleep, too cold and ungrateful to arise and open the door, but the touch of his effectual grace has made my soul bestir itself. Oh, the longsuffering of my Beloved, to tarry when he found himself shut out, and me asleep upon the bed of sloth! Oh, the greatness of his patience, to knock and knock again, and to add his voice to his knockings, beseeching me to open to him! How could I have refused him! Base heart, blush, and be confounded! But what most extraordinary kindness of all is this, that he becomes his own porter and unbars the door himself. Thrice blessed is the hand that condescends to lift the latch and turn the key. Now I see that nothing but my Lord's power can save such a naughty mass of wickedness as I am; ordinances fail, and even the gospel has no effect upon me till his hand is stretched out. Now, I also perceive that his hand is good, whereas all else is unsuccessful; he can open it when nothing else will. Blessed be his name, I feel his gracious presence even now.

Well, may my bowels move for him when I think of all he has suffered for me and my ungenerous return. I have allowed my affections to wander. I have set up rivals. I have grieved him. Sweetest and dearest of all beloveds, I have treated thee as an unfaithful wife treats her husband. Oh, my cruel sins, my cruel self. What can I do? Tears are a poor show of my repentance; my whole heart boils with indignation at myself. Wretch that I am, to treat my Lord, my All in All, my exceeding great joy, as though he were a stranger. Jesus, thou forgivest freely, but this is not enough; prevent my unfaithfulness in the future. Kiss away these tears, and then purge my heart and bind it with sevenfold cords to thyself, never to wander more.

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

September 27: The True Source of Leadership

Zechariah 10:1–11:17; Acts 25:1–27; Job 30:16–31. It's destructive when leaders latch onto power, considering it their right. God holds leaders to a higher standard because their words and actions cause others to rise or fall. When leaders of corporations, churches, or other organizations take their authority for granted, entire communities may fight against God rather than with Him. Such was the case for the Israelites in Zachariah's lifetime.

The context suggests the people mistakenly relied on Baal (the storm god) rather than Yahweh. Yahweh responded by reminding them and their leaders that He is the one who sends rain "" "sk rain from Yahweh in the season of the spring rain—Yahweh, who makes storm clouds, and he gives showers of rain to them, to everyone the vegetation in the field. Because the household gods speak deceit, those who practice divination see a lie, and the dreamers of vanity speak in vain. Therefore, the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted because there is no shephe""""(Zech 10:1–2). Based on what happened next, the leaders suggested that Israel rely on household gods.

Although Yahweh was upset with His people, He directed the main force of His anger against those in charge " ""y anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders because Yahweh of hosts watches over his flock, the house of Judah; and he will make them like his majestic horse in war. From them the cornerstone will go out, the tent peg, from them the battle bow, from them every ruler, all together""""(Zech 10:3–4). IIsrael'sseaders had to change their ways first—the horrific behavior (the battle bow) came from them.

How many professing Christian leaders lean on themselves—their unearned""" ""little bo""""" instead of being the kind of leaders Yahweh has called them to be? Even Christian leaders tend to locate their power source in themselves or this world rather than Yahweh. These misguided shepherds may achieve a temporary victory, but their work will eventually bring suffering to themselves and those in their care.

How should you lead? What aspects of your leadership should you change?

John D. Barry

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

September 27

The"“g"” of renunciation

Lord, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest. Luke 9:57.

Our Lord's to this man is severe discouragement because He knew what was in man. We would have said fancy losing the opportunity of winning that man'’'‘Fancy bringing about a north wind that froze him and turned him away discourage."’"'ever apologize to your Lord. The words of the Lord hurt and offend until there is nothing left to hurt or offend. Jesus Christ has no tenderness toward anything that will ultimately ruin a man in the service of God. Answers are based not on caprice but on knowing what is in man. If the Spirit of God brings to your mind a word of the Lord that hurts you, you may be sure that there is something He wants to pull to death.

v. 58. These words knock the heart out of serving Jesus Christ because they please me. The rigor of rejection leaves nothing but my Lord, myself, and forlorn hope:" "L't the hundredfold come or go; your lodestar must be your relationship to Me, and I have nowhere to lay My heHea.'’". 59. This man did not want to disappoint Jesus or his father. We put sensitive loyalty to relatives instead of allegiance to Jesus Christ, and Jesus has to take the last place. In a conflict of loyalty, obey Jesus Christ at all costs.

v. 61. The one who says, Lord, b"'" " the fiercely ready one but never goes. This man had one or two reservations. The exacting call of Jesus Christ has no margin of good-byes because good-bye, as it is often used, is pagan, not Christian. When the call of God comes, begin to go and never stop.

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

September 27

Christ, in you the hope of glory

Col. 1:27

Religion is not the simple fire escape you build in anticipation of possible danger outside your dwelling and leave there until danger comes. You go to it some morning when a fire breaks out in your house, and the poor old thing that you built up there and thought that you could use someday is so rusty and broken, and the weather has so beaten upon it, and the sun so turned its hinges, that it will not work. That is the condition of a man who has built what seems a creed of faith, a trust in God in anticipation of the day when danger overtakes him, and has said to himself, I am safe, for I will take refuge in it then. But religion is the house in which we live; it is the table at which we sit; it is the fireside at which we draw near, the room that arches its graceful and familiar presence over us; it is the bed on which we lie and think of the past, and anticipate the future, and gather our refreshment.

Phillips Brooks

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