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Daily Devotionals
Mornings and Evenings with Jesus
Devotional: July 8th

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Morning Devotional

And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it he thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. - Matthew 14:28-29.

A STORM at sea is one of the most sublime sights in all nature; hence it has frequently employed the painter’s pencil and the poet’s pen. What can be finer than the representation of David? -“They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters,-these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad, because they be quiet; so he bringeth them to their desired haven.”

Matthew has furnished us with two beautiful sea-pieces: both happened on the same lake,-the Lake of Galilee. At each our Lord’s disciples were on board a vessel, and sailed at his command; in both they encountered a storm, and were dismayed. In the first storm he was with them; but he was asleep, and they went to him, and awoke him, saying, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” In the second he was absent. He had constrained his disciples to go into a ship while he sent the multitude away. “He went up into a mountain apart to pray, and when the evening was come he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea; they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straight way Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I: be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.”

The biography of Scripture is very brief, but impressive and discriminating: in no instance is this more obvious than in regard to Peter. Whenever introduced, he always appears before us in his own character; that is, with sanguine temperament and strong passions, exceedingly ardent and bold,-displaying more zeal than prudence,-speaking first and reflecting afterwards. Such men as these have their use and importance in the state or in the church; but it is not good for them to be alone; therefore we always find John accompanying Peter. Peter could animate John, and John could control Peter. The advantage of such a temper as this is to act with promptness and decision,-overcoming difficulties which others would stagger at, would reason about, consult, and hesitate, and be chilled, and turn back. The disadvantage of such a temper is this:-that it always renders the possessor liable to err on the side of doing too much, and getting into difficulties and embarrassments. This was the case with Peter, in a measure, in the instance before us; for as soon as our Saviour had said, “Be of good cheer; it is I: be not afraid,” Peter answered, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” Still, there was affection in this. It reminds us of another instance when our Saviour appeared to some of his disciples at the Lake of Tiberias. The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord; and Peter girt his fisher’s coat about him, and cast himself into the sea to go to Jesus.”

Love longs to be near the object of its affection; and as soon as he saw his Saviour, he wished to fly into his arms; but surely there was no need of such haste as this. We are not to be afraid of our trials, neither are we to seek after them. We are to take up our cross when it is in our way, but we are not to go out of our road in search of difficulties and dangers. We see, therefore, a very great difference in the first and second era of Christianity.

What God commands he will enable us to do, and he will accept our obedience. But with regard to other things we hear him say, “Who hath required this at your hands?” Our Lord told his disciples that when they were persecuted in one city they were to flee into another; and for a while they did this; but soon after we find persons longing for persecution, and anxious to become martyrs, and that their zeal required to be tempered with prudence, and soon, instead of comparative solitude and seclusion from the world, came in the doctrine of forbidding to marry, and of abstaining from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving. But, while Peter here shows his imprudence, he also shows his wisdom in asking the permission of our Lord. He would not come down till he was bidden. “And Jesus said, Come.” Why did he indulge Peter? It was to try him: and here was great faith evinced by the apostle; for when Peter heard this he immediately left the ship and went to Jesus.

Evening Devotional

I laid meat unto them. - Hosea 11:4.

WORDS in time vary a little in signification. The word meat is now almost exclusively applied to flesh; but in the Scriptures it means food at large. “He hath given meat to them that fear him.” Meat here signifies food, and it means food for the mind. Let us therefore consider the provision divine goodness has made for the relief and supply of his people.

There are some who have no more regard for their souls than if they had none. To get money and spend it-to dress and adorn their bodies-to nurse them in sickness, to pamper them in health-is all their concern. But God knows the infinite value of the soul, and therefore in the gospel he “blesses us with all Spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” To show the plenitude and the riches of the gospel provision, it is represented in the Scriptures by a feast; not a common feast, but a royal feast; not a common royal feast, but the feast of a great king at the marriage of his son; and even this does not go half far enough to express the amplitude of the feast which the great King of heaven and earth has made to display the magnificent goodness of his heart. Therefore it is said, “In this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees, well refined.”

Our Saviour therefore mentions the duration of it. “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life.” It is everlasting, not only in itself, but because it communicates immortality to those who partake it. “Your fathers,” said our Saviour, “did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.” “My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.” As if he should say, “There is in this provision a reality, an excellency, and a satisfaction that rises above all other enjoyment.

But where is this provision found? Where is it that our heavenly benefactor has laid this meat unto us? Why, he has laid it unto us in the Scriptures. Here is a book that tells us how we may save our souls: “Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me.” And this is the main subject-“I am that bread of life.” Jeremiah says, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them;” and, says Job, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” It is laid unto us in the preaching of the gospel. It is the delightful office of ministers to spread this provision before us, and to invite us, or to compel us to come in, that God’s house may be filled with inhabitants, and his table with guests. It is laid in every good book that treats on the subject, and that comes in our way. It is laid unto us in all the means of grace, and in all the ordinances of religion, and peculiarly so in the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, where he is said to be made known unto us “in the breaking of bread.”

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