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

 Morning, January 28 Go To Evening Reading

“Perfect in Christ Jesus.”

—Colossians 1:28

Do you not feel in your own soul that perfection is not in you? Does not every day teach you that? Every tear trickles from your eye, weeps “imperfection”; every harsh word that proceeds from your lip mutters “imperfection.” You have too frequently had a view of your heart to dream for a moment of perfection in yourself. But amidst this sad consciousness of imperfection, here is comfort for you—you are “perfect in Christ Jesus.” In God’s sight, you are “complete in him;” even now, you are “accepted in the Beloved.” But there is a second perfection, yet to be realized, which is sure to all the seeds. Is it not delightful to look forward to the time when every stain of sin shall be removed from the believer, and he shall be presented faultless before the throne, without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing? The Church of Christ then will be so pure that not even the eye of Omniscience will see a spot or blemish in her; so holy and so glorious that Hart did not go beyond the truth when he said—

“With my Saviour’s garments on,

Holy as the Holy One.”

Then shall we know, taste, and feel the happiness of this vast but short sentence, “Complete in Christ.” Not till then shall we fully comprehend the heights and depths of the salvation of Jesus. Doth not thy heart leap for joy at the thought of it? Black as thou art, thou shalt be white one day; filthy as thou art, thou shalt be clean. Oh, it is a marvelous salvation! Christ takes a worm and transforms it into an angel; Christ takes a black and deformed thing and makes it clean and matchless in his glory, peerless in his beauty, and fit to be the companion of seraphs. O my soul, stand and admire this blessed truth of perfection in Christ.

Go To Morning Reading Evening, January 28

“And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.”

—Luke 2:20

What was the subject of their praise? They praised God for what they had heard—for the good tidings of great joy that a Saviour was born unto them. Let us copy them and raise a song of thanksgiving that we have heard of Jesus and his salvation. They also praised God for what they had seen. There is the sweetest music—what we have experienced, what we have felt within, what we have made our own—“the things which we have made touching the King.” It is not enough to hear about Jesus: mere hearing may tune the harp, but the fingers of living faith must create the music. If you have seen Jesus with the God-giving sight of faith, suffer no cobwebs to linger among the harp strings, but loud to the praise of sovereign grace, awake your psaltery and harp. One point for which they praised God was the agreement between what they had heard and what they had seen. Observe the last sentence—“As it was told unto them.” Have you not found the gospel in yourselves just as the Bible said it would be? Jesus said he would give you rest—have you not enjoyed the sweetest peace in him? He said you should have joy, comfort, and life through believing in him—have you not received all these? Are not his ways of pleasantness and his paths of peace? Indeed, you can say to the queen of Sheba, “The half has not been told me.” I have found Christ more sweet than his servants ever said he was. I looked upon his likeness as they painted it, but it was a mere daub compared with himself, for the King's beauty outshines all imaginable loveliness. Indeed, what we have “seen” keeps pace with, nay, far exceeds, what we have “heard.” Then, let us glorify and praise God for a Saviour so precious and satisfying.

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

January 28: Carpe Diem

Genesis 44; Hebrews 8–9; Ecclesiastes 11:1–4

The Latin phrase Carpe Diem means “seize the day.” Taking risks to make your life extraordinary is biblical if done according to God’s plan and principles. The idea behind this comes from Ecclesiastes: “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days” (Eccl 11:1).

Bread is the symbol of substance in the ancient world; the author of Ecclesiastes suggests that we should follow God’s plan, even at the possible cost of our livelihood. He then suggests that what we give to God, He will return. This is the opposite of a self-protection mentality. The “waters” in the proverb represent chaos, suggesting that we learn about God’s ability to give what we need in letting go of even the most chaotic circumstances.

This is further illustrated when the author says, “Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.… He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap” (Eccl 11:2, 4). In other words, there is no real way to calculate the return on investment. Things can always go bad. But with God, that’s not the case. He honors the work of those who diligently follow Him and give of themselves.

In the eyes of the world, not everything will work out perfectly for those who willingly give to God. But it will work out in the spiritual long haul. So, when God calls us to something, the answer is Carpe Diem. And the question we should ask Him is, “What can I do for you and your kingdom?”

What risks are you taking for God right now? Have you asked Him what risks He would like you to take?

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).

January 28th

But it is hardly credible that one could so persecute Jesus!

Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? Acts 26:14.

Am I set on my own way for God? We are never free from this snare until we are brought into the experience of the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. Obstinacy and self-will will always stab Jesus Christ. It may hurt no one else, but it wounds His Spirit. Whenever we are obstinate and self-willed and set upon our own ambitions, we are hurting Jesus. Every time we stand on our rights and insist that this is what we intend to do, we are persecuting Jesus. We systematically vex and grieve His Spirit whenever we stand on our dignity. When the knowledge comes home that it is Jesus, Whom we have been persecuting all the time, it is the most crushing revelation there could be.

Is the word of God tremendously keen to me as I hand it on to you, or does my life give the lie to the things I profess to teach? I may teach sanctification and yet exhibit the spirit of Satan, the spirit that persecutes Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Jesus is conscious of one thing—a perfect oneness with the Father, and He says, “Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.” All I do ought to be founded on a perfect oneness with Him, not on a self-willed determination to be godly. This will mean that I can be easily put upon, easily over-reached, and easily ignored, but if I submit to it for His sake, I prevent Jesus Christ from being persecuted.

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

January 28

Not as I will, but as thou wilt

Matt. 26:39

There are no disappointments to those whose wills are buried in the will of God.

Faber

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