Day 1 - Lord's Day - Sunday | Daily Devotions | The Church, Personal, and Office Lectionaries |

 Morning, August 24 Go To Evening Reading

“The breaker has come up before them.”

—Micah 2:13

Since Jesus has gone before us, things remain as they would not have been had He never passed that way. He has conquered every foe that obstructed the way. Cheer up now, thou faint-hearted warrior. Not only has Christ travelled the road, but he has slain thine enemies. Dost thou dread sin? He has nailed it to his cross. Dost thou fear death? He has been the death of Death. Art thou afraid of hell? He has barred it against the advent of any of his children; they shall never see the gulf of perdition. Whatever foes may be before the Christian, they are all overcome. There are lions, but their teeth are broken; there are serpents, but their fangs are extracted; there are rivers, but they are bridged or fordable; there are flames, but we wear that matchless garment which renders us invulnerable to fire. The sword that has been forged against us is already blunted; the instruments of war that the enemy is preparing have already lost their point. God has taken away in the person of Christ all the power that anything can have to hurt us. Well then, the army may safely march on, and you may go joyously along your journey, for all your enemies are conquered beforehand. What shall you do but march on to take the prey? They are beaten, they are vanquished; all you have to do is divide the spoil. You shall, it is true, often engage in combat, but your fight shall be with a vanquished foe. His head is broken; he may attempt to injure you, but his strength shall not be sufficient for his malicious design. Your victory shall be easy, and your treasure shall be beyond all count.

“Proclaim aloud the Saviour’s fame,

Who bears the Breaker’s wond’rous name;

Sweet name; and it becomes him well,

Who breaks down earth, sin, death, and hell.”

Go To Morning Reading Evening, August 24

“If fire breaks out, and catches in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.”

—Exodus 22:6

But what restitution can he make who casts abroad the firebrands of error, or the coals of lasciviousness, and sets men’s souls on a blaze with the fire of hell? The guilt is immeasurable, and the result is irreversible. If such an offender is forgiven, what grief it will cause him in retrospect, since he cannot undo the mischief which he has done! An ill example may kindle a flame which years of amended character cannot quench. To burn the food of man is bad enough, but how much worse to destroy the soul! It may be helpful to us to reflect on how far we may have been guilty in the past, and to enquire whether, even in the present, there may not be evil in us which has a tendency to bring damage to the souls of our relatives, friends, or neighbours.

The fire of strife is a terrible evil when it breaks out in a Christian church. Where converts were multiplied, and God was glorified, jealousy and envy do the devil’s work most effectually. Where the golden grain was being housed, to reward the toil of the great Boaz, the fire of enmity comes in and leaves little else but smoke and a heap of blackness. Woe unto those by whom offences come. May they never come through us, for although we cannot make restitution, we shall undoubtedly be the chief sufferers if we are the chief offenders. Those who fan the flames deserve censure, but he who first kindles them is most to blame. Discord usually takes first hold upon the thorns; it is nurtured among the hypocrites and base professors in the church, and away it goes among the righteous, blown by the winds of hell, and no one knows where it may end. O thou Lord and giver of peace, make us peacemakers, and never let us aid and abet the men of strife, or even unintentionally cause the least division among thy people.

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

August 24: Who Is Trustworthy?

Isaiah 48:1–49:26; Luke 19:11–48; Job 11:1–12

We might get sidetracked when reading the Parable of the Ten Minas. Businessmen are not often regarded as sympathetic characters in our modern world. In movies and sometimes in life, they’re usually flat, miserly characters who take advantage of naïve individuals and community values.

Although there is often an element of truth to some stereotypes, it can be too easy to take sides too readily. And we’re forced to take sides in this parable. Whose view is correct—the people of the city who hate the nobleman, the fearful servant, or the nobleman and his faithful servants?

The response of the masses seems unjustified. The two servants entrusted with minas are faithful characters, but not the focus of the parable. When the final servant is summoned, we expect an interesting turn of events. Will we sympathize with him? We’ve already heard that the citizens hate the nobleman, and the final servant seems to confirm this: “For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man—you withdraw what you did not deposit, and you reap what you did not sow!” (Luke 19:21).

But it’s not the final servant who provides the climactic turn of events that we’re looking for—it’s the nobleman. Instead of punishing the servant for disobeying His commands, the nobleman holds the servant accountable to his own perceived value system: “By your own words I will judge you, wicked slave! You knew that I am a severe man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. And why did you not give my money to the bank, and I, when I returned, would have collected it with interest?” (Luke 19:22–23). Rather than letting him off the hook, the nobleman points out that the servant is inconsistent. He has been making excuses for his unfaithfulness all along.

Because we’re imperfect characters, we need to be ready and willing to take an honest look at the lenses with which we view the world: our hearts. If we’re prepared to live faithfully, we need to look to the only trustworthy character—the one who sacrificed everything for us.

How do you rationalize or interpret Scripture in a way that makes you less accountable? Do you have someone in your life who challenges you to be better? Why or why not?

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).

August 24th

The spiritual index

Or what man is there of you, whom if his son asketh bread, will he give him a stone? Matthew 7:9.

The illustration of prayer that Our Lord uses here is that of a good child asking for a good thing. We often talk about prayer as if God hears us, irrespective of our relationship to Him (cf. Matthew 5:45). Never say it is not God’s will to give you what you ask; don’t sit down and faint, but find out the reason and turn to the index. Are you rightly related to your wife, to your husband, to your children, to your fellow students—are you a ‘good child’ there? ‘Oh, Lord, I have been irritable and cross, but I do want spiritual blessing.’ You cannot have it; you will have to do without until you come into the attitude of a good child.

We mistake defiance for devotion; arguing with God for abandonment. We will not look at the index. Have I been asking God to give me money for something I want when there is something I have not paid for? Have I been asking God for liberty while I am withholding it from someone who belongs to me? I have not forgiven someone his trespasses; I have not been kind to him; I have not been living as God’s child among my relatives and friends (see v. 12).

I am a child of God only by regeneration, and as a child of God, I am good only as I walk in the light. For most of us, prayer has become a pious platitude, a matter of emotion and mystical communion with God. Spiritually, we are all good at producing fogs. If we turn up the index, we will see very clearly what is wrong—that friendship, that debt, that temper of mind. It is no use praying unless we are living as children of God. Then, Jesus says—“Everyone that asketh receiveth.”

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

August 24

I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.

Ezek. 36:26

What is thy season this morning? Is it the season of drought? Then that is the season for showers. Is it a season of great heaviness and black clouds? Then that is the season for showers. “As thy days so shall thy strength be.” “I will give thee showers of blessings.” The word is in the plural. God will send all kinds of blessings. All God’s blessings go together, like links in a golden chain. If He gives converting grace, He will also give comforting grace. He will send “showers of blessings.” Look up today, O parched plant, and open thy leaves and flowers for a heavenly watering.

Spurgeon

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