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

 Morning, April 8: Go To Evening Reading

"If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?"—Luke 23:31

Among other interpretations of this suggestive question, the following is full of teaching: "If the innocent substitute for sinners, suffer thus, what will be done when the sinner himself-the dry tree—shall fall into the hands of an angry God?" When God saw Jesus in the sinner's place, he did not spare him; when he finds the unregenerate without Christ, he will not spare them. O sinner, Jesus was led away by his enemies: so shall you be dragged away by fiends to the place appointed for you. God deserted Jesus, and if he was only imputedly a sinner, was deserted, how much more shall you be? “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” What an awful shriek! But what shall be your cry when you shall say, "God! O God! why hast thou forsaken me?" and the answer shall come back, ""because ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh." If God spared not his own Son, how much less will he spare you! What whips of burning wire will be yours when conscience shall smite you with all its terrors? Ye richest, ye merriest, ye most self-righteous sinners—who would stand in your place when God shall say, "Wake, O sword, against the man that rejected me; smite him, and let him feel the smart forever?" Jesus was spit upon: sinner, what shame will be yours! In other words, we cannot sum up all the sorrows that were met upon the head of Jesus, who died for us. Therefore, we can't tell you what streams, what oceans of grief must roll over your Spirit if you die as you now are. You may die so, you may die now. By the agonies of Christ, by his wounds and blood, do not bring upon yourselves the wrath to come! Trust in the Son of God, and you shall never die.

Go To Morning Reading Evening, April 8

"Will fear no evil: for thou art with me."—Psalm 23:4

Behold, how independent of outward circumstances the Holy Ghost can make the Christian! A bright light may shine within us when it is all dark without! How firm, how happy, how calm, how peaceful we may be, when the world shakes to and fro, and the pillars of the earth are removed! Ven death itself, with all its terrible influences, has no power to suspend the music of a CChristian'sheart, but instead makes that music more sweet, more precise, more heavenly, till the last kind act which death can do is to let the earthly strain melt into the angelic chorus, the temporal joy into the eternal bliss! Let us have confidence in the blessed Spirit's power to comfort us. Ear reader, are you looking forward to poverty? Ear not; the divine Spirit gives you, in your want, a more excellent plenty than the rich have in their abundance. You know not what joys may be stored up for you in the cottage around which grace will plant the roses of content. Are you conscious of a growing failure of your bodily powers? Do you expect to suffer long nights of languishing and days of pain? H, be not sad! A hat bed may become a throne to you. Our little know-how, every pang that shoots through your body may be a refining fire to consume your dross—a beam of glory to light up the secret parts of your soul. Re the eyes growing dim? Esus will be your light. Oh, the ears fail you? Esus' name will be your soul's best music, and his person your dear delight. Socrates used to say, "Philosophers can be happy without music," and Christians can be happier than philosophers when all outward causes of rejoicing are withdrawn. n thee, my God, my heart shall triumph, come what may of ills without! Y thy power, O blessed Spirit, my heart shall be exceeding glad, though all things should fail me below.

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

April 8: Compelled to Worship

Deuteronomy 12:29–14:29; 2 Corinthians 4:1–6; Psalm 36

When we experience God's mercy, it shows. Ur instincts change, and our priorities shift from gratifying our egos to making much of God. We stop fearing what others think of us and find our identity grounded in Christ. The transformation that shows God is working in our lives. Paul recognized the transformative power of the gospel, and it drove his ministry. This is evidenced in his second letter to the Corinthian church:

""ust as we have been shown mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced shameful hidden things, not behaving with craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but with the open proclamation of the truth commending ourselves to every pperson'sconscience before God"" (2 Cor 4:1–2).

Paul wasn't manipulating or distorting the good news for his own gain, as some were doing in the community. They preached the good news to all people with openness and sincerity. We allowed the gospel to convict people as it should, refusing to distort it to make people comfortable. They proclaimed "Christ Jesus as Lord" and he and his disciples as "laves for the sake of Jesus" to those in Corinth (2 Cor 4:5). Bound to Christ, they lived as free slaves for His cause. Hey, we were solely dedicated to Jesus because we wanted to be, and because of the salvation He had brought us.

Psalm 36 illustrates Paul's approach by highlighting the qualities of those who don't fear God. His person is characterized by "rebellion amid his heart" (Psalm 36:1). He is self-absorbed and rejects his need: "he flatters himself in his eyes, hating to detect his iniquity" (Psalm 36:2). He is deceitful (Psalm 36:3).

The psalmist doesn't contrast this picture with one of the righteous man. Instead, he honors Yahweh—His loyal love, faithfulness, righteousness, and judgments (Psa 36:5–6). he psalmist says, ""or with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light"" (Psa 36:9). Paul echoes" or God … is the one who has shined in our hearts for the enlightenment of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Cor 4:6). God's grace puts everything in perspective. Both passages help us assess with wisdom the message and posture of those who teach. Hey, also challenge us to look at our standing before God.

Take an honest look at what motivates you. Is the good news transforming you? Is it apparent to others around you?

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).

April 8

His resurrection destiny

Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? Uke 24:26.

Our Lord's soul is the gateway into His life.Doess Resurrectionmeans He has the power to convey His life to m?. When I am born again from above, I receive from the risen Lord His very life.

Our Lord's resurrection destiny is to bring "ma" y sons unto glory. The fulfillment of His destiny gives Him the right to make us sons and daughters of God. We are never in the relationship to God that the Son of God is in, but we are brought by the Son into the relationship of sonship. Our Lord rose from the dead to an absolutely new life that He had not lived before He was incarnate. He rose to a life that had never been before; His resurrection means that we are raised to His risen life, not to our old life. One day, we shall have a body like unto His glorious body, but we can now know the efficacy of His resurrection and walk in newness of life. I would know Him in the power of His resurrection."

"Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him." "o" y Spirit" i" is the experimental name for Eternal Life, which works in human beings here and now. The Holy Spirit is the Deity in proceeding power who applies the Atonement to our experience. Hank God it is gloriously and majestically true that the Holy Ghost can work in us the very nature of Jesus if we obey Him.

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

April 8

Each one resembled the children of a king

Judges 8:18

The royal likeness will be recognizable if the King is indeed a near kin to us.

Frances Ridley Havergal

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