Day 4 - Wednesday | Daily Devotions | Morning and Evening: Daily Reading | Connect the Testaments | My Utmost for His Highest | Thoughts for the Hour |

 Morning, August 6 Go To Evening Reading

“Watchman, what of the night?”

—Isaiah 21:11

What enemies are abroad? Errors are numerous, and new ones appear every hour: against what heresy am I to be on my guard? Sins creep from their lurking places when the darkness reigns; I must mount the watch-tower and watch unto prayer. Our heavenly Protector foresees all the attacks which are about to be made upon us, and when as yet the evil designed us is but in the desire of Satan, he prays for us that our faith fails not when we are sifted as wheat. Continue, O gracious Watchman, to forewarn us of our foes, and for Zion’s sake, hold not thy peace.

“Watchman, what of the night?” What weather is coming for the Church? Are the clouds lowering, or is it all transparent and fair overhead? We must care for the Church of God with anxious love, and now that Popery and infidelity are both threatening, let us observe the signs of the times and prepare for conflict.

“Watchman, what of the night?” What stars are visible? What precious promises suit our present case? You sound the alarm, give us the consolation also. Christ, the polestar, is ever fixed in his place, and all the stars are secure in the right hand of their Lord.

But watchman, when comes the morning? The Bridegroom tarries. Are there no signs of his coming forth as the Sun of Righteousness? Has not the morning star arisen as the pledge of the day? When will the day dawn, and the shadows flee away? O Jesus, if thou come not in person to thy waiting Church this day, yet come in Spirit to my sighing heart, and make it sing for joy.

“Now all the earth is bright and glad

With the fresh morn,

But all my heart is cold, and dark and sad:

Sun of the soul, let me behold thy dawn!

Come, Jesus, Lord,

O quickly come, according to thy word.”

Go To Morning Reading Evening, August 6

“Let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.”

—Psalm 72:19

This is an extensive petition. To intercede for a whole city needs a stretch of faith, and there are times when a prayer for one man is enough to stagger us. But how far-reaching was the psalmist’s dying intercession! How comprehensive! How sublime! “Let the whole earth be filled with his glory.” It doth not exempt a single country, however, crushed by the foot of superstition; it doth not exclude a single nation, however barbarous. For the cannibal and the civilized, for all climes and races, this prayer is uttered: the whole circle of the earth it encompasses and omits no son of Adam.

We must be up and doing for our Master, or we cannot honestly offer such a prayer. The petition is not asked with a sincere heart unless we endeavor, as God shall help us, to extend the kingdom of our Master. Are there some who pay attention to both pleas and labor? Reader, is it your prayer? Turn your eyes to Calvary. Behold the Lord of Life nailed to a cross, with the thorn-crown about his brow, with bleeding head, and hands, and feet. What! Can you look upon this miracle of miracles, the death of the Son of God, without feeling within your bosom a marvelous adoration that language never can express? And when you feel the blood applied to your conscience and know that he has blotted out your sins, you are not a man unless you start from your knees and cry, “Let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.” Can you bow before the Crucified in loving homage and not wish to see your Monarch master of the world? Out on you if you can pretend to love your Prince and desire not to see him as the universal ruler. Your piety is worthless unless it leads you to wish that the same mercy extended to you may bless the whole world. Lord, it is harvest time; put in thy sickle and reap.

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

November 6: The Pursuit of God

1 Kings 8:1–53; Mark 5:21–6:6; Proverbs 2:1–15

We’re willing to put incredible effort into pursuing something significant to us. Before buying a new gadget, we’ll read reviews, research the manufacturer’s reputation, and consult our tech-savvy friends. Our efforts and curiosity betray the true treasures of our hearts. Other things we say are important might not receive the same effort—often to our detriment.

In Proverbs, being curious about God’s ways is vital for life. The father in Proverbs encourages his son to be curious about God’s ways, representing his desire to fear God: “My child, if you will receive my sayings, and hide my commands with you, to incline your ear toward wisdom, then you shall apply your heart to understanding. For if you cry out for understanding, lift your voice for insight, seek her like silver and search her out like treasure, then you will understand the fear of Yahweh, and the knowledge of God you will find” (Prov 2:1–5).

The knowledge of God isn’t just knowledge about God. It’s also the desire and the process of inclining and applying your heart to understanding. The father encourages his son to cry out for understanding or lift his voice for insight, going beyond intellectual comprehension. The son must seek to understand the same way someone might search out silver or a treasure. The father wants his son to learn about God’s ways and to understand them himself so he can apply them to his life.

We might claim to hold to a life of worship, but do our actions really reflect that value? Do our efforts and decisions reflect a heart that cries out to God for His wisdom? God has redeemed us at a great price with the death of His son. He desires that we turn over our lives to Him, including pursuing Him with all our being.

Are you pursuing “the knowledge of God” and applying your heart to understanding?

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).

November 6th

Programme of belief

Believest thou this? John 11:26.

Martha believed in the power at the disposal of Jesus Christ; she thought that if He had been present, He could have healed her brother. She also thought that Jesus had a peculiar intimacy with God and that God would do whatever He asked of God, but she needed a closer personal intimacy with Jesus. Martha’s belief program had its fulfillment in the future; Jesus led her on until her belief became an individual possession and slowly emerged into a particular inheritance—“Yea, Lord, I believe that Thou art the Christ …”

Is there something like that in the Lord’s dealings with you? Is Jesus educating you into a personal intimacy with Himself? Let Him tell you His question: “Believest thou this?” What is your ordeal of doubt? Have you come, like Martha, to some overwhelming passage in your circumstances where your belief program is about to emerge into a personal belief? This can never be until a personal need arises from an individual problem.

To believe is to commit. In the program of mental belief, I commit myself and abandon all that is not related to that commitment. In personal faith, I commit myself morally to this way of confidence and refuse to compromise with any other. In particular belief, I commit myself spiritually to Jesus Christ and determine that things be dominated by the Lord alone.

When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ, He says, “Believest thou this?” Faith is as natural as breathing, and I am staggered that I was so stupid as not to trust Him before.

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

November 6

The pillar of the cloud went from before their face and stood behind them

Exod. 14:19

It is only sometimes guidance that we need the most. Many of our dangers come upon us from behind. They are stealthy and insidious, assaulting us when we are unaware of their nearness. The tempter is cunning and shrewd. He only meets us part front. It is a comfort to know that Christ comes behind us when it is there. We need protection.

J. R. Miller

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