Day 2 - Monday | Daily Devotions | Morning and Evening: Daily Reading | Connect the Testaments | My Utmost for His Highest | Thoughts for the Quiet Hour |

 Morning, April 21. Go To Evening Reading

“I know that my Redeemer liveth.”

—Job 19:25

The marrow of Job’s comfort lies in that little word “My”—“My Redeemer,” and in the fact that the Redeemer lives. Oh! to get hold of a living Christ. We must get a property in him before we can enjoy him. What is gold in the mine to me? Men are beggars in Peru, and beg their bread in California. It is gold in my purse, which will satisfy my necessities, by purchasing the bread I need. So, a Redeemer who does not redeem, who will never stand up for myn avenger, blood, to me, a what avail are they? Rest not content until by faith you can say, “Yes, I cast myself upon my living Lord, and he is mine.” It may be you hold him with a feeble hand; you half think it presumption to say, “He lives as my Redeemer;” yet, remember if you have but faith as a grain of mustard seed, that little faith entitles you to say it. But another word here expresses Job’s strong confidence: "I know.” To say, “I hope so, I trust so,” is comfortable, and there are thousands in the fold of Jesus who hardly ever get much further. But to reach the essence of consolation, you must say, “I know.” Ifs, buts, and perhapses are sure murderers of peace and comfort. Doubts are dreary things in times of sorrow. Like wasps, they sting the soul! If I have any suspicion that Christ is not mine, there is vinegar mingled with the gall of death; but if I know that Jesus lives for me, then darkness is not dark: even the night is light about me. Surely if Job, in those ages before the coming and advent of Christ, could say, “I know,” we should not speak less positively. God forbid that our positivity should be presumption. Let us see that our evidence is proper, lest we build upon an ungrounded hope; and then let us not be satisfied with the mere foundation, for it is from the upper rooms that we get the widest prospect. A living Redeemer, truly mine, is joy unspeakable.

Go To Morning Reading Evening, April 21

“Who is even at the right hand of God?”

—Romans 8:34

He, once despised and rejected by men, now occupies the honourable position of a beloved and honoured Son. The right hand of God is the place of majesty and favour. Our Lord Jesus is his people’s representative. When he died for them, they had rest; he rose again for them, they had liberty; when he sat down at his Father’s right hand, they had favour, honour, and dignity. The raising and elevation of Christ is the elevation, the acceptance, and enshrinement, the glorifying of all his people, for he is their head and representative. This sitting at the right hand of God, then, is to be viewed as the acceptance of the person of the Surety, the reception of the Representative, and therefore, the acceptance of our souls. O saint, see in this thy sure freedom from condemnation. “Who is he that condemneth?” Who shall condemn the men who are in Jesus at the right hand of God?

The right hand is the place of power. Christ at the right hand of God hath all power in heaven and earth. Who shall fight against the people with such power vested in their Captain? O my soul, what can destroy thee if Omnipotence be thy helper? If the aegis of the Almighty cover thee, what sword can smite thee? Rest thou secure. If Jesus is thine all-prevailing King, and hath trodden thine enemies beneath his feet; if sin, death, and hell are all vanquished by him, and thou art represented in him, by no possibility canst thou be destroyed.

“Jesus’ tremendous name

Puts all our foes to flight:

Jesus, the meek, the angry Lamb,

A Lion is in a fight.

“By all hell’s host withstood;

We all hell’s host overthrow;

And conquering them, through Jesus’ blood

We still have to conquer.”

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

April 21: The Misnomer about God’s Will

Joshua 7:1–8:35; 2 Corinthians 10:1–8; Psalm 49:1–20

We often hear a great misnomer about following God’s will. It usually sounds like this: “God has commanded me to do x, so I’m going to go into x blindly without fear.” A phrase like this has elements of great truth—faith should carry us. But it’s missing a piece.

Sometimes, God instructs us to follow Him quickly and blindly, and we should certainly do that. However, His commands should almost always be combined with our abilities, including logic and rationality. We have to find the balance. If we become too rational, it can be to the detriment of God’s will; we can reason ourselves out of taking the risks God wants us to take.

Joshua, the leader of the Israelites after Moses, is an excellent example of proper behavior within God’s will. He learned from Moses and led out of that strength and experience, but he was led by the Spirit (Deut 34:9-12). He also did the proper legwork, even though he knew that God had guaranteed success if he and the people were faithful.

Joshua 7:25, the battle of Ai, gives us a glimpse into this strategy. Before invading enemy territory, Joshua sent spies. He led the troops by first sending only a small regiment (Josh 7:3). Despite his proper behavior, Joshua was unsuccessful because of the people’s disobedience (Josh 7:1).

After this, we see Joshua's pain due to the people’s spiritual failures (Josh 7:6-9). Yahweh didn’t allow this to continue, though, because He was aware of the root cause of the problem; God called Joshua to find it and change it, so he did (Josh 7:10-26).

Joshua shows us what it means to follow God’s will: receive a call, be trained, act out of wisdom and preparation, accept defeat when it comes, seek Yahweh’s will again to fix it, and then confront the problem head-on. The result: success (Josh 8:1 29). Following their victory, Joshua rededicated himself and those he led to Yahweh (Josh 8:30-35).

If we understood how to function within God’s will, we would be much more successful for God. We would see great and miraculous things happen. This understanding is not reserved for the leader but for all people.

What patterns of following God’s will do you need to change? How have you misunderstood what it means to live for Him?

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).

April 21st

Now don’t hurt the Lord!

Have I been so long with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? John 14:9.

Our Lord must be repeatedly astounded at us—astounded at how un-simple we are. Our opinions make us stupid; when we are simple, we are never silly; we discern all the time. Philip expected the revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in the One Whom he knew. The mystery of God is not in what will be; it is now; we look for it in some cataclysmic event. We have no reluctance to obey Jesus, but we are probably hurting Him with the questions we ask. “Lord, show us the Father.” His answer comes straight back—‘There he is, always here or nowhere.’ We look for God to manifest Himself to His children: God only manifests Himself in His children. Other people see the manifestation, but the child of God does not. We want to be conscious of God; we cannot be mindful of our consciousness and remain sane. If we ask God to give us experiences, or if conscious experience is on the road, we hurt the Lord. The questions we ask hurt Jesus because they are not a child's questions.

“Let not your heart be troubled”—then am I hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled? If I believe in the character of Jesus, am I living up to my belief? Am I allowing anything to perturb my heart, any morbid questions to come in? I have to get to the implicit relationship that takes everything as it comes from Him. God never guides presently, but always now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the emancipation is immediate.

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

April 21

In everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.

Phil. 4:6

The natural temptation with every difficulty is to plan for it, to put it out of the way yourself; but stop short with all your planning, thinking, and worry, and talk to Him! “Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee.” You may not always be able to do this in a moment or two. Then continue supplication until you know He has it, and prayer becomes praise. Rest, trust, and wait, and see how He does that which you wanted to do, and had so much care about. “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.”

A. E. Funk

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