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Daily Devotionals
Spiritual Treasury For The Children of God
Devotional: January 27th

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Morning Devotional

And Jesus said unto them, when ye pray, say, Our Father, which art in heaven, etc- Luke 11:2.

Faith in the heart excites prayer from the lips. So the faith of God’s elect manifests itself. It cometh from the Lord the Spirit. By it the soul is led to Jesus the mediator; and by him to God the Father. So each person in the Godhead is known, worshipped, and glorified by believing souls. While we see and feel nothing of our misery and wants, no marvel prayer is an irksome task. From a sight of ourselves, and the knowledge of Jesus, we come to him daily with simplicity of heart, Master, teach us to pray! It is the highest honor, the sweetest privilege, the most blessed exercise of the soul to draw nigh to God. What greater on earth than to come to the throne of the King of kings? And that fear and shame may not beset and keep us back, knowing our vile nature and sinful practice, hear our Lord and Saviour’s encouraging direction, "When ye pray, say, Our Father." etc.

And can it be, that I, a child of wrath by nature, a son of perdition by sin, a vassal and slave of Satan by practice, and accursed by the holy law; can it be that God will own me, hear me, and bless me as his child? Yes; grace triumphs over nature’s deserts; love glories over creature’s demerits. The lips of truth have said it, and who shall dare reverse it? By the sword of the Spirit slay the unbelief of thy heart. What Jesus hath taught his disciples to call God, that he is to them. As Jesus is the Saviour of all men, but especially of them that believe, so God is the Universal Parent of all; but in an especial manner, the Father of all the dear members of his beloved Son. A Father by covenant love, by election of grace-by precious promise-by strict justice. A Father in holiness and truth, because of the suretyship of Jesus-the righteousness of Jesus-the atonement of Jesus-the holiness of Jesus. And the weakest, feeblest member in the faith of Christ, possesseth Jesus, with all his blessings, as man and mediator. Hence God is their FATHER: He loveth them with complacency and delight. The paternal affections of his heart yearn over them. Children’s hearts should continually be drawn out to their Father in holy affection, fervent desires, and humble confidence. Nothing doubting, but gathering all confidence of hope, as being taught by Jesus, "In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him."- Ephesians 3:12.

Lord, I address thy heav’nly throne;

Call me a child of thine;

Send down the Spirit of thy Son

To form my soul divine.

There shed thy choicest loves abroad,

And make my comforts strong;

Then shall I say, My Father, God,

With an unwav’ring tongue.

Evening Devotional

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 1 Corinthians 15:19.

Here is a supposition, and a consequence drawn from it. Consider, (1st.) This hope in Christ. It is not common to all men. It is a precious grace of the Holy Spirit. It springs from faith in Christ. It looks to the promises in Christ, and is nourished and supported by them. It is a lively hope. We are “begotten again to it, according to the abundant mercy of God our Father, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3.) By it, we are made to differ from all other men, who, though they may talk of hope in God, yet have no hope; but are without Christ, and without God in the world. (Ephesians 2:12.) Here is the proof of it: “Every man who hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” (1 John 3:3.) Mind-Christ is the object of this hope. It is in, or on Christ. The man who is the subject of it, purifies himself. How? By the blood of Christ, and by the grace of Christ. From what?- From all sin: from the love of this world; from the pomps and vanities of it. He lives not in them; he walks not after them; he hates them; he despises them. Hope on Christ springs up in his heart: that kills the love of the world in him. (2d.) What is it to have hope in this life only? have our prospect hounded by the narrow limits of time and sense; to take up with the joys and pleasures of the present world; to set our affections on them, and seek all our happiness in them, without looking after and longing for the invisible glories of a better world. (3d.) Why then are we of all men the most miserable? (1st.) Because we are new creatures in Christ; we have a new and spiritual nature in and from him; we have communion and fellowship with him: therefore, we cannot enjoy the pleasures, honors, and riches of the world, as other men do. We are “crucified to the world.” (Galatians 6:14.) (2d.) We are miserable from the malice, hatred, and persecution of the men of the world, for our hope in Christ. (3d.) We are miserable from the burden of a body of sin, which others feel not; from the fiery darts of Satan, which at others he shoots not; the workings of unbelief, which others find not; that we ever offend the Lord, which others care not for; that we cannot perfectly and perseveringly obey his will in all things, which others concern not themselves about; that ever the Lord hides his face, and deserts our souls, which others know nothing of. From these, and innumerable other things,- Christians, of all other men, are most miserable. But, O blessed hope in Christ! “He is our hope.” (1 Timothy 1:1.) While Jesus lives, our hope lives. Time, with all its changes, cannot frustrate it; death, with all its terrors, cannot destroy it; eternity, with all its glories, will be the end and fruition of it.

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