May the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen! Psalm 72:19

This is a large petition. To intercede for a whole city needs a stretch of faith, and there are times when praying for one man is more than we can handle. But how far-reaching was the psalmist’s dying intercession! How comprehensive! How sublime! “May the whole earth be filled with his glory.” Not a single country is exempt even if it is crushed by the foot of superstition; this does not exclude a single nation however uncivilized. For the terrorist as well as for the civilized, for all places and races this prayer is uttered: It encompasses the whole circle of the world and omits no one. We must be up and doing for our Master, or we cannot honestly offer such a prayer. The petition is not asked with a sincere heart unless we endeavor, with God’s help, to extend the kingdom of our Master.

Are there not some who neglect both to pray and to work? Reader, is it your prayer? Turn your eyes to Calvary. Look at the Lord of Life nailed to a cross, with a crown of thorns upon His brow, with bleeding head and hands and feet. What! Can you look upon this miracle of miracles, the death of the Son of God, without feeling within your heart a marvelous adoration that language never can express? And when you feel the blood applied to your conscience and know that He has blotted out your sins, you are not a man unless you jump from your knees to cry, “May the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen, and Amen!”

Can you bow before the Crucified in humble adoration and not wish to see your Monarch Master of the world? You only pretend to love your Prince if you do not desire to see Him the universal ruler. Your piety is worthless unless it leads you to wish that the same mercy that has been shown to you may bless the whole world. Lord, it is harvesttime; put in Your sickle and reap.

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The family reading plan for August 6, 2014 * Jeremiah 34 * Psalm 5, 6

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Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.

So she gleaned in the field until evening.  Ruth 2:17

Let me learn from Ruth, the gleaner. As she went out to gather the ears of corn, so must I set out for the fields of prayer, meditation, the ordinances, and hearing the Word to gather spiritual food. The gleaner gathers her portion ear by ear; her gains are little by little: So I must be content to search for single truths, if they come just one at a time. Every ear helps to make a bundle, and every gospel lesson assists in making us wise for salvation.

The gleaner keeps her eyes open: If she stumbled dreamlike among the stubble, she would have no load to carry home rejoicingly at evening. I must be careful in religious exercises in case they become unprofitable to me; I fear I have lost quite a bit already. I need to estimate my opportunities properly and glean with greater diligence.

The gleaner stoops for all she finds, and I must do the same. Proud minds criticize and object, but humble minds glean and receive benefit. A lowly heart is the key to profitably hearing the Gospel. The soul-saving Word is not received except with meekness. A stiff back makes for a bad gleaner. Pride is a vile robber and must not be tolerated for a moment.

What the gleaner gathers, she keeps: If she dropped one ear to find another, the result of her day’s work would be but meager; she is as careful to retain as to obtain, and so at last she makes great gains. How often do I forget all that I hear; the second truth pushes the first out of my head, and so my reading and hearing end in much ado about nothing! Do I understand the importance of storing up the truth?

Hunger helps to make the gleaner wise; if she has no corn in her hand, there will be no bread on her table; she works under a sense of necessity, and consequently she moves swiftly and her grasp is firm. My need is even greater, Lord; help me to feel it, that it may urge me onward to glean in fields that yield to diligence a plenteous reward.

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The family reading plan for August 2, 2014 * Jeremiah 29 * Mark 15

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Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.

Whoever comes to me I will never cast out. John 6:37

There is no expiration date on this promise. It does not merely say, “I will not cast out a sinner at his first coming,” but “I will never cast him out.” The original reads, “I will not, not cast out,” or “I will never, never cast out.” The text means that Christ will not at first reject a believer, and that as He will not do it at first, so He will not to the last.

But suppose the believer sins after coming? “If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”1 But suppose that believers backslide? “I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.”2 But believers may fall under temptation! “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”3 But the believer may fall into sin as David did! Yes, but He will “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”4

Once in Christ, in Christ forever,

Nothing from His love can sever.

Jesus said, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”5 What do you say to this, O trembling, feeble mind? This is a precious mercy. Coming to Christ, you do not come to One who will treat you well for a little while and then send you about your business, but He will receive you and make you His bride, and you shall be His forever! Live no longer in the spirit of bondage to fear, but in the spirit of adoption, which cries, “Abba, Father!” Oh, the grace of these words: “I will never cast out.”

1) 1 John 2:1  2) Hosea 14:4  3) I Corinthians 10:13  4) Psalm 51:7  5) John 10:28

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The family reading plan for July 30, 2014 * Jeremiah 26 * Mark 12

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Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.

Why do I go mourning?  Psalm 42:9

Can you answer this, believer? Can you find any reason why you are so often mourning instead of rejoicing? Why yield to gloomy anticipations? Who told you that the night would never end in day? Who told you that the sea of circumstances would ebb out till there should be nothing left but long stretches of the mud of horrible poverty? Who told you that the winter of your discontent would proceed from frost to frost, from snow and ice and hail to deeper snow and yet more heavy tempest of despair? Don’t you know that day follows night, that flood comes after ebb, that spring and summer succeed winter?

Be full of hope! Hope forever! For God does not fail you. Do you not know that God loves you in the midst of all this? Mountains, when in darkness hidden, are as real as in day, and God’s love is as true to you now as it was in your brightest moments.

No father chastens always. The Lord hates the rod as much as you do; He only cares to use it for that reason that would make you willing to receive it—namely, it brings about your lasting good. You will yet climb Jacob’s ladder with the angels and behold Him who sits at the top of it—your covenant God. You will yet, amidst the splendors of eternity, forget the trials of time or only remember them to bless the God who led you through them and works your lasting good by them. Come, sing in the midst of tribulation.

Faint not nor fear, His arms are near,

He changeth not, and thou art dear;

Only believe and you shalt see,

That Christ is all in all to thee

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The family reading plan for July 21, 2014 * Jeremiah 17 * Mark 3

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Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.

A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench. Matthew 12:20

What is weaker than the bruised reed or the smoldering wick? A reed that grows in the marshland—let a wild duck land on it, and it snaps; let but the foot of man brush against it, and it is bruised and broken; every wind that flits across the river moves it to and fro. You can conceive of nothing more frail or brittle or whose existence is more in jeopardy than a bruised reed. Then look at the smoldering wick—what is it? It has a spark within it, it is true, but it is almost smothered; an infant’s breath might blow it out; nothing has a more precarious existence than its flame.

Weak things are here described; yet Jesus says of them, “The smoldering wick I will not quench; the bruised reed I will not break.” Some of God’s children are made strong to do mighty works for Him; God has His Samsons here and there who can pull up Gaza’s gates and carry them to the top of the hill. He has a few mighties who are lionlike men, but the majority of His people are a timid, trembling race. They are like starlings, frightened at every passerby, a little fearful flock. If temptation comes, they are taken like birds in a snare; if trial threatens, they are ready to faint. Their frail craft is tossed up and down by every wave; they drift along like a seabird on the crest of the billows—weak things, without strength, without wisdom, without foresight. Yet, weak as they are, and because they are so weak, they have this promise made especially to them.

Herein is grace and graciousness! Herein is love and loving-kindness! How it opens to us the compassion of Jesus—so gentle, tender, considerate! We need never shrink back from His touch. We need never fear a harsh word from Him; though He might well chide us for our weakness, He rebukes not. Bruised reeds shall have no blows from Him, and the smoldering wick no damping frowns.

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The family reading plan for July 19, 2014 * Jeremiah 14  * Mark 1

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Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.