Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, March 28th, 2024
Maundy Thursday
There are 3 days til Easter!
Attention!
Tired of seeing ads while studying? Now you can enjoy an "Ads Free" version of the site for as little as 10¢ a day and support a great cause!
Click here to learn more!

Daily Devotionals
Mornings and Evenings with Jesus
Devotional: August 2nd

Resource Toolbox
Morning Devotional

Fight the good fight of faith. - 1 Timothy 6:12.

LET us view the Christian as a soldier, for so he is; and then he says, “I will go in the strength of the Lord God to engage in conflict with all my enemies.” What a stranger must he be to religion who does not feel it daily to be a warfare, who does not often exclaim, “Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! Many are they that rise up against me. Many there be that say of my soul, There is no help for him in God.” And these adversaries of our souls are possessed of every quality that can engender terror. When we think of them, of their number, of their skill, of their malice, of their might, of their being invisible, many of them, and spiritual, (for “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places,”) surely here is enough to make the stoutest heart tremble. Yes, if we go alone into the field to engage them; but not if we say, “I will go in the strength of the Lord God.” Then

“The weakest saint shall win the day,

Though death and hell obstruct the way.”

“Fear not,” says God, “for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” What was David when he engaged with the Philistine? A shepherd lad. What was his armour? A sling and a stone. What was his dependence? “I come to thee,” said he to the monster, “in the name of the living God.” What was the result? He was “more than a conqueror!” And David’s God is ours, and we have the same assurance of security. But some are saying, “I am much below David; I am nothing better than a worm: and how am I to engage with all these enemies?” Let all such hear God, saying, “I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand. Fear thou not. worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument, having teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them, and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.”

Evening Devotional

God hath made that same Jesus both Lord and Christ. - Acts 2:36.

HERE we observe-First, That it is important that we should entertain proper apprehensions of Christ. He is not only a Saviour, but he is also a Sovereign. He is our Lord and Master. Is Christ divided? This is impossible in the reality. But there are some who would thus separate what God has joined together, in their views, in their creed, and in their practice too. There are some who would receive him as their Redeemer, and yet would not hail him as their Sovereign; and concerning these he says, “As for those mine enemies, who would not that I should reign over them, bring them hither and slay them before me.” Such is the doom of those who take his sceptre and dash it against his cross. Let us not forget that he came by water as well as by blood; that there is pollution in sin as well as guilt; that sin defiles as well as condemns; and that therefore we need cleansing as well as pardon.

Secondly, Let us beware of insincerity and inconsistency. “Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?” Why do you wear my livery, while you are regardless of my concerns? “If I am a master, where is mine honour?” “Not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” “What doth it profit, my brethren,” says James, “though a man say he have faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?” Yes, faith can save him, but not such faith; so it is to be understood. Faith without works is dead.

Oh, the inconsistency that is observable in many professors of religion! Let us, therefore, make it manifest that we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that we are concerned to promote his cause and glory in the world. Thirdly, Let those in whom there is some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel, make it manifest by immediately and sincerely taking him for their Lord and Master. Oh that these would “take with them words, and turn unto him,” and say, “Lord, take away all iniquity, receive us graciously, so will we render the calves of our lips.” Oh that such may realize the language of Isaiah: “One shall say I am the Lord’s,” and “another shall call himself by the name of Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and name himself by the name of Israel.”

What a privilege is early dedication to God! Beza says in his will, “Lord, I thank thee that at the tender age of sixteen I was enabled to give myself up to thy service.” There are many who can say the same, and they are daily blessing God that they were enabled to remember him in their youth; excited and encouraged by those blessed words that have adorned many an early tomb: “I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me.” Those have found the Saviour worthy of all their homage and service; “that his yoke is easy and his burden is light.” And that “godliness is profitable in all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”

Subscribe …
Get the latest devotional delivered straight to your inbox every week by signing up for the "Mornings and Evenings with Jesus" subscription list. Simply provide your email address below, click on "Subscribe!", and you'll receive a confirmation email from us. Follow the instructions in the email to confirm your subscription to this list.
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile