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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” / 1 Peter 5:7

It is a happy way of soothing sorrow when we can feel–“HE careth for me.”

Christian! do not dishonour religion by always wearing a brow of care; come,

cast your burden upon your Lord. You are staggering beneath a weight which

your Father would not feel. What seems to you a crushing burden, would be to

him but as the small dust of the balance. Nothing is so sweet as to

“Lie passive in God’s hands,

And know no will but his.”

O child of suffering, be thou patient; God has not passed thee over in his

providence. He who is the feeder of sparrows, will also furnish you with what

you need. Sit not down in despair; hope on, hope ever. Take up the arms of

faith against a sea of trouble, and your opposition shall yet end your

distresses. There is One who careth for you. His eye is fixed on you, his

heart beats with pity for your woe, and his hand omnipotent shall yet bring

you the needed help. The darkest cloud shall scatter itself in showers of

mercy. The blackest gloom shall give place to the morning. He, if thou art one

of his family, will bind up thy wounds, and heal thy broken heart. Doubt not

his grace because of thy tribulation, but believe that he loveth thee as much

in seasons of trouble as in times of happiness. What a serene and quiet life

might you lead if you would leave providing to the God of providence! With a

little oil in the cruse, and a handful of meal in the barrel, Elijah outlived

the famine, and you will do the same. If God cares for you, why need you care

too? Can you trust him for your soul, and not for your body? He has never

refused to bear your burdens, he has never fainted under their weight. Come,

then, soul! have done with fretful care, and leave all thy concerns in the

hand of a gracious God.

 

Evening  “Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening.” / Ezekiel 33:22

In the way of judgment this may be the case, and, if so, be it mine to

consider the reason of such a visitation, and bear the rod and him that hath

appointed it. I am not the only one who is chastened in the night season; let

me cheerfully submit to the affliction, and carefully endeavour to be profited

thereby. But the hand of the Lord may also be felt in another manner,

strengthening the soul and lifting the spirit upward towards eternal things. O

that I may in this sense feel the Lord dealing with me! A sense of the divine

presence and indwelling bears the soul towards heaven as upon the wings of

eagles. At such times we are full to the brim with spiritual joy, and forget

the cares and sorrows of earth; the invisible is near, and the visible loses

its power over us; servant-body waits at the foot of the hill, and the

master-spirit worships upon the summit in the presence of the Lord. O that a

hallowed season of divine communion may be vouchsafed to me this evening! The

Lord knows that I need it very greatly. My graces languish, my corruptions

rage, my faith is weak, my devotion is cold; all these are reasons why his

healing hand should be laid upon me. His hand can cool the heat of my burning

brow, and stay the tumult of my palpitating heart. That glorious right hand

which moulded the world can new-create my mind; the unwearied hand which bears

the earth’s huge pillars up can sustain my spirit; the loving hand which

incloses all the saints can cherish me; and the mighty hand which breaketh in

pieces the enemy can subdue my sins. Why should I not feel that hand touching

me this evening? Come, my soul, address thy God with the potent plea, that

Jesus’ hands were pierced for thy redemption, and thou shalt surely feel that

same hand upon thee which once touched Daniel and set him upon his knees that

he might see visions of God.

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Identifying with Christ – John MacArthur

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“God…has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3, emphasis added).

Many people mistakenly believe that one’s religious preference is irrelevant because all religions eventually lead to the same spiritual destination.

Such thinking is sheer folly, however, because Scripture declares that no one comes to God apart from Jesus (John 14:6). He is the only source of salvation (Acts 4:12) and the only One powerful enough to redeem us and hold us secure forever (John 10:28).

Every Christian shares a common supernatural union with Christ. Paul said, “The one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Cor. 6:17). We are in Him and He is in us. His life flows through us by His Spirit, who indwells us (Rom. 8:9).

As a non-Christian, you were in bondage to evil (Rom. 3:10-12), enslaved to the will of Satan (1 John 5:19), under divine wrath (Rom. 1:18), spiritually dead (Eph. 4:17-18), and without hope (Eph. 2:12). But at the moment of your salvation a dramatic change took place. You became a new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), alive in Him (Eph. 2:5), enslaved to God (Rom. 6:22), and a recipient of divine grace (Eph. 2:8). You were delivered out of the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Col. 1:13). You now possess His righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21) and share in His eternal inheritance (Rom. 8:16-17).

All those blessings–and many more–are yours because you are in Christ. What a staggering reality! In a sense what He is, you are. What He has, you have. Where He is, you are.

When the Father sees you, He sees you in Christ and blesses you accordingly. When others see you, do they see Christ in you? “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

 

Suggestions for Prayer:  Thank God for His marvelous grace in taking you from spiritual death to spiritual life in Christ.

Ask Him for wisdom and discernment to live this day for His good pleasure.

For Further Study:   Read the book of Ephesians, noting every occurrence of the phrase “in Christ.”

What has God accomplished in Christ?

What blessings are yours in Christ?

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To Forgive or to Blame – Charles Stanley

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Colossians 3:12-17

“It’s not my fault” is a prevalent attitude in our culture. To avoid responsibility for their own actions, people blame others: “I wouldn’t yell at my kids so much if my own mother had loved me more” or “I wouldn’t speak unkindly about my boss if he showed me some respect.” Resentment wells up until the victim is blind to everything except how his life is impacted by someone else’s hurtful deeds. Then casting blame is easy. But God has a challenge for believers: Forgive those who wound you.

The Lord’s Prayer mentions several of God’s duties but lists only one for believers: to forgive debtors (Matt. 6:12). The metaphor of debt describes sin well. A wronged person often feels that the responsible party owes something, such as an apology or compensation. But by showing mercy to one who has sinned, you stamp his or her obligation to you “paid in full.” Reparations and retribution are no longer required.

Sometimes our wounds are so deep that forgiveness does not come easily. Remember that Jesus bears the scars of others’ sins, too, and His Holy Spirit enables believers to carry out this difficult task. While your debtor may have done nothing to deserve grace, choose to give it anyway, just as Jesus did for you.

When God forgives, He remembers wrongs no more (Jer. 31:34). This doesn’t mean that transgressions magically ceases to have happened. Instead, the Lord refuses to use past wrongs as a reason to punish His people. He set the pattern of debt cancellation, and we are to follow His example (Matt 6:15).

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning  “And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the

darkness.” / Genesis 1:4

Light might well be good since it sprang from that fiat of goodness, “Let

there be light.” We who enjoy it should be more grateful for it than we are,

and see more of God in it and by it. Light physical is said by Solomon to be

sweet, but gospel light is infinitely more precious, for it reveals eternal

things, and ministers to our immortal natures. When the Holy Spirit gives us

spiritual light, and opens our eyes to behold the glory of God in the face of

Jesus Christ, we behold sin in its true colours, and ourselves in our real

position; we see the Most Holy God as he reveals himself, the plan of mercy as

he propounds it, and the world to come as the Word describes it. Spiritual

light has many beams and prismatic colours, but whether they be knowledge,

joy, holiness, or life, all are divinely good. If the light received be thus

good, what must the essential light be, and how glorious must be the place

where he reveals himself. O Lord, since light is so good, give us more of it,

and more of thyself, the true light.

No sooner is there a good thing in the world, than a division is necessary.

Light and darkness have no communion; God has divided them, let us not

confound them. Sons of light must not have fellowship with deeds, doctrines,

or deceits of darkness. The children of the day must be sober, honest, and

bold in their Lord’s work, leaving the works of darkness to those who shall

dwell in it forever. Our Churches should by discipline divide the light from

the darkness, and we should by our distinct separation from the world do the

same. In judgment, in action, in hearing, in teaching, in association, we must

discern between the precious and the vile, and maintain the great distinction

which the Lord made upon the world’s first day. O Lord Jesus, be thou our

light throughout the whole of this day, for thy light is the light of men.

 

Evening  “And God saw the light.” / Genesis 1:4

This morning we noticed the goodness of the light, and the Lord’s dividing it

from the darkness, we now note the special eye which the Lord had for the

light. “God saw the light”–he looked at it with complacency, gazed upon it

with pleasure, saw that it “was good.” If the Lord has given you light, dear

reader, he looks on that light with peculiar interest; for not only is it dear

to him as his own handiwork, but because it is like himself, for “He is

light.” Pleasant it is to the believer to know that God’s eye is thus tenderly

observant of that work of grace which he has begun. He never loses sight of

the treasure which he has placed in our earthen vessels. Sometimes we cannot

see the light, but God always sees the light, and that is much better than our

seeing it. Better for the judge to see my innocence than for me to think I see

it. It is very comfortable for me to know that I am one of God’s people–but

whether I know it or not, if the Lord knows it, I am still safe. This is the

foundation, “The Lord knoweth them that are his.” You may be sighing and

groaning because of inbred sin, and mourning over your darkness, yet the Lord

sees “light” in your heart, for he has put it there, and all the cloudiness

and gloom of your soul cannot conceal your light from his gracious eye. You

may have sunk low in despondency, and even despair; but if your soul has any

longing towards Christ, and if you are seeking to rest in his finished work,

God sees the “light.” He not only sees it, but he also preserves it in you.

“I, the Lord, do keep it.” This is a precious thought to those who, after

anxious watching and guarding of themselves, feel their own powerlessness to

do so. The light thus preserved by his grace, he will one day develop into the

splendour of noonday, and the fulness of glory. The light within is the dawn

of the eternal day.

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Cultivating a Heavenly Perspective – John MacArthur

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“God…has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:3, emphasis added).

It’s been said that some Christians are so heavenly minded, they’re no earthly good. But usually the opposite is true. Many Christians are so enamored with this present world that they no longer look forward to heaven. They have everything they want right here. The health, wealth, and prosperity doctrine has convinced them that Christians can have it all, and they pursue “the good life” with a vengeance.

Despite the prevalence of such thinking, the old Negro spiritual well says, “This world is not my home. I’m just a passin’ through.”

Paul reminds us of that truth in Philippians 3:20: “Our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” That’s why we must set our minds on heavenly, not on earthly things (Col. 3:1- 2). Our deepest affections and highest aspirations should center there. Our actions and decisions should reflect heavenly priorities, not earthly indulgences.

Even though we live in a sin-stained world and must constantly fight against its corrupting influences, God hasn’t left us stranded. He extends to us all the rights and privileges of our heavenly citizenship. Let that assurance encourage you today to live to His glory and rely on His heavenly provisions. Take care not to let impure aspirations or trivial pursuits distract you from your heavenly priorities.

Suggestions for Prayer:      Tell Jesus how thankful and full of praise you are because of the place He is preparing for you in heaven (John 14:1-3).

Pray for a greater awareness of the fleeting value of this world and the surpassing value of the world to come (1 John 2:17).

For Further Study:  Read Revelation 4-5, 21

What primary activity are the inhabitants of heaven engaged in?

List some of heaven’s blessings.

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Personal Gethsemanes – Greg Laurie

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Prior to the cross, Jesus went to a garden called Gethsemane. There, as He faced the horrors of what was to come on the cross, He prayed, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.”

What was that cup that Jesus was recoiling from? I believe it was the cup of God’s wrath, which He would drink for all of us. The judgment of God that should have come upon me instead came on Him.

He then prayed, “Not My will, but Yours be done.”

We will all face our own “Gethsemanes” in life. By that I mean, a time…

When life is not making any sense.

When your problems seem too great to bear.

When you are seemingly overwhelmed.

When you feel like you just can’t go on another day.

There is a point where we have to say something that is very important to God. And that is the same thing Jesus said: “Not my will, but Yours be done.”

Much is said about the cross (and rightly so), but keep in mind, here in the Garden of Gethsemane we see the decision that took Him to the cross was agonizingly made!

It is interesting that sin began in a garden. And the commitment to bear that sin was also in a garden.

In Eden, Adam sinned. In Gethsemane, Jesus conquered.

In Eden, Adam hid himself. In Gethsemane, our Lord boldly presented Himself.

In Eden, the sword was drawn. In Gethsemane, it was sheathed.

Jesus did this all for us.

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The Power of Jesus’ Name – Charles Stanley

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John 14: 13

Praying in Jesus’ name states both our relationship with Christ and our right—through Him—to approach the Father directly. It also expresses our . . .

• Authority to petition God. The glorified Christ now sits at the right hand of God, where He intercedes for us and serves as our High Priest (Heb. 7:25). He has instructed us to come and ask for what we need. These words give us the authorization to enter the throne room of grace at any time and speak personally with the Father. To everyone who has received Jesus Christ as Savior, the Lord has granted the right to use His name.

• Agreement with God’s purposes. Based on our kinship with Jesus, we have access to the Father and can come with Christ’s authority to make requests. But to use the Savior’s name, we must also agree with God’s purposes. Praying in the name of Jesus means we’re asking in agreement with His character and will. As servants of God, we are to make it our priority to obey Him and His will, not our own. By allowing God’s Word to abide in us—to become part of our thinking and our standard for life—we will learn to pray in accordance with His plan.

• Assurance of an answer. “In Jesus’ name” is a phrase of confidence. It is a confession of certainty that our prayers will be heard and answered.

God doesn’t want prayer to become a rote exercise. So when praying “in Jesus’ name,” remember that those three words are not a formula. Instead, let them be powerful reminder of whose you are and the privilege of being involved in His work. Prayer is a mighty prerogative of the children of God.

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Journey of Arrivals – Ravi Zacharias

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“As for me,” said American writer E.B. White, “I en­joy liv­ing among ped­es­tri­ans who have an in­stinct­ive and ha­bitu­al real­iz­a­tion that there is more to a jour­ney than the mere fact of ar­rival.”(1)

Under typical circumstances, the beloved author of Charlotte’s Web would not have presented me with much pause here. The pause of agreement, yes, for his is the kind of thought with which I deeply resonate. Particularly in the segments of life where we are comfortable with our divided realms, we lamentably fail to see the great gift of the collective whole; end triumphs over means, destination over the journey, heaven is divided from earth, the spiritual from the physical, the present from the eternal. White’s words fit aptly upon any soapbox addressing the paradox of a kingdom that is both present and approaching, a kingdom found both along the way and in our final arrival—a mystery Jesus championed again and again, in his storytelling and in his own coming and going. In the kingdom he espoused, the journey toward it is not a matter of merely arriving one distant day at the gates of pearl, but rather finding the pearl of great price in our midst even now and seizing it for all eternity. Under typical circumstances, I would have enlisted E.B. White’s voice in one of my favorite sermons and kept moving.

But I happened to read this quote as I watched live coverage of 33 Chilean miners emerging from a two-month journey of being trapped beneath the earth. For them, the journey was indeed astounding, but the arrival was everything.

Over seventy years ago from a pulpit in London, Dietrich Bonhoeffer described the image of a man trapped after a mining disaster: Deep in the earth, dark as night, the man is cut off and alone. The supply of oxygen is limited. Food, water, and options are scarce; silence and fear are not. He knows his situation, and he can do nothing but wait. Writes Bonhoeffer, “He knows that up there, the people are moving about, the women and children are crying—but the way to them is blocked. There is no hope.”(2) But what if just then, in the distance, the sounds of tapping are heard—the sound of knocking, the sound of friends, the sounds of drills, rescue capsules, and deliverance? This, said Bonhoeffer in December of 1933, is the hope of Christian Advent: the coming of a deliverer, the drawing near of God to humankind, the arrival of Christ our rescuer. Like the Chilean miners, elated at the arrival of Manuel Gonzalez, the rescuer sent 2,040 feet underground to coordinate the procedure, Christ’s arrival into our dark world matters most profoundly. His descent assures our ascent.

But his arrival is not the end of our waiting. The journey continues. “Can and should there be anything else more important for us than the hammers and blows of Jesus Christ coming into our lives?” asks Bonhoeffer.(3) Indeed, no. Yet even with the hope of Christ in our midst, Advent teaches us how to wait and to watch, how to experience the journey expectantly, though we remain in the dark, though we find ourselves impatient pedestrians anxious for new scenery. We learn to be pedestrians bent on arrival, but alert on the journey nonetheless: “When these things begin to take place,” instructs Christ, “stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).

The world is of course still dark and lonely. But in it every day and each new year is the startling hope of a rescuer in our midst. “There are actually 34 of us,” wrote Jimmy Sanchez from underground, who at 19 years old was the youngest trapped miner, “because God has never left us down here.”(4) The signs and sounds of this hope are all around:  sounds of God’s reign in unexpected places; signs of Christ in fellow pedestrians; the sounds of saints who have gone before us, and now stand on the solid surface of our hope.

The story of Advent is a journey of arrivals. The word itself, from the Latin adventus, means arrival, approach, coming. And it is this storied mystery we are invited to proclaim: Christ has arrived. Christ walks among us. Christ assures our own arrival is near.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

(1) E.B. White, One Man’s Meat (Gardiner, Maine: Tilbury House Publishers, 1997), 108.

(2) Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Christmas Sermons (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 89.

(3) Ibid., 96.

(4) Tim Padgett, “Chile’s Mine Rescue: Media Circus and Religious Revival,” Time Online, October 12, 2010, http://www.time.com/, accessed October 19, 2010.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning  “Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” /

2 Peter 3:18

“Grow in grace”–not in one grace only, but in all grace. Grow in that

root-grace, faith. Believe the promises more firmly than you have done. Let

faith increase in fulness, constancy, simplicity. Grow also in love. Ask that

your love may become extended, more intense, more practical, influencing every

thought, word, and deed. Grow likewise in humility. Seek to lie very low, and

know more of your own nothingness. As you grow downward in humility, seek also

to grow upward–having nearer approaches to God in prayer and more intimate

fellowship with Jesus. May God the Holy Spirit enable you to “grow in the

knowledge of our Lord and Saviour.” He who grows not in the knowledge of

Jesus, refuses to be blessed. To know him is “life eternal,” and to advance in

the knowledge of him is to increase in happiness. He who does not long to know

more of Christ, knows nothing of him yet. Whoever hath sipped this wine will

thirst for more, for although Christ doth satisfy, yet it is such a

satisfaction, that the appetite is not cloyed, but whetted. If you know the

love of Jesus–as the hart panteth for the water-brooks, so will you pant

after deeper draughts of his love. If you do not desire to know him better,

then you love him not, for love always cries, “Nearer, nearer.” Absence from

Christ is hell; but the presence of Jesus is heaven. Rest not then content

without an increasing acquaintance with Jesus. Seek to know more of him in his

divine nature, in his human relationship, in his finished work, in his death,

in his resurrection, in his present glorious intercession, and in his future

royal advent. Abide hard by the Cross, and search the mystery of his wounds.

An increase of love to Jesus, and a more perfect apprehension of his love to

us is one of the best tests of growth in grace.

 

Evening  “And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.” / Genesis 42:8

This morning our desires went forth for growth in our acquaintance with the

Lord Jesus; it may be well tonight to consider a kindred topic, namely, our

heavenly Joseph’s knowledge of us. This was most blessedly perfect long before

we had the slightest knowledge of him. “His eyes beheld our substance, yet

being imperfect, and in his book all our members were written, when as yet

there was none of them.” Before we had a being in the world we had a being in

his heart. When we were enemies to him, he knew us, our misery, our madness,

and our wickedness. When we wept bitterly in despairing repentance, and viewed

him only as a judge and a ruler, he viewed us as his brethren well beloved,

and his bowels yearned towards us. He never mistook his chosen, but always

beheld them as objects of his infinite affection. “The Lord knoweth them that

are his,” is as true of the prodigals who are feeding swine as of the children

who sit at the table.

But, alas! we knew not our royal Brother, and out of this ignorance grew a

host of sins. We withheld our hearts from him, and allowed him no entrance to

our love. We mistrusted him, and gave no credit to his words. We rebelled

against him, and paid him no loving homage. The Sun of Righteousness shone

forth, and we could not see him. Heaven came down to earth, and earth

perceived it not. Let God be praised, those days are over with us; yet even

now it is but little that we know of Jesus compared with what he knows of us.

We have but begun to study him, but he knoweth us altogether. It is a blessed

circumstance that the ignorance is not on his side, for then it would be a

hopeless case for us. He will not say to us, “I never knew you,” but he will

confess our names in the day of his appearing, and meanwhile will manifest

himself to us as he doth not unto the world.

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Understand Your Spiritual Resources – John MacArthur

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“God…has blessed us with every spiritual blessing” Eph. 1:3,

The story is told of a wealthy London businessman who searched many years for his runaway son. One afternoon he was preparing to board a train to London when he spotted a man in ragged, dirty clothing begging money from passengers along the station platform. His first impulse was to avoid the beggar but there was something strangely familiar about him.

When the beggar approached and asked if he could spare a few shillings, the businessman realized he had found his long-lost son. With tears in his eyes and joy in his voice he embraced his son, crying, “A few shillings? You are my son–everything I have is yours!”

That pictures many Christians who are ignorant or negligent of their spiritual resources. They are children of the King, yet live like spiritual paupers.

Paul repeatedly emphasized our sufficiency as believers. In Colossians 2:10 he declares that in Christ “you have been made complete.” In Philippians 4:13 and 19 he says, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” and “my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Peter added that God’s “divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3).

The word translated “spiritual” in Ephesians 1:3 speaks of the work of the Holy Spirit. Every blessing you receive, whether material or immaterial, has God as its source.

As a Christian, you possess every spiritual resource you need to fulfill God’s will for your life. You needn’t pray for more love, for example, because His love is already poured out in your heart through the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). The same is true of joy (John 15:11), peace (John 14:27), strength (Phil. 4:13)–and every other resource you need. The key to spiritual progress and victory is learning to apply what you already have, not seeking more.

Suggestions for Prayer:  Praise God for His abundant spiritual resources.  Ask Him to help you apply them with wisdom and consistency.

For Further Study: Read Matthew 6:25-34 and Philippians 4:6-8     What specific promises does God make in those passages?     What does He require of you?

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Not Over Yet – Greg Laurie

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Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both — Ecclesiastes 11:6

Saul, later to become the apostle Paul, was doing the work of the kingdom before he was even in it. Had he not persecuted the church, I think the first-century Christians probably would have been content to stay in their little holy huddle in Jerusalem and never leave town. It was great, God had blessed, and there were believers all around. So who wanted to leave Jerusalem? But with Saul’s persecution, the Christians were forced to spread out, and in the process, they took the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.

I think the person who probably had the greatest influence in bringing about the conversion of Saul was Stephen, the church’s first martyr. I believe it was Stephen’s bold testimony that actually threw fuel on Saul’s fire, because Saul was under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Stephen didn’t have a long ministry. He never wrote a book of the New Testament. But if his only convert was Saul of Tarsus, then he was one whopper of a convert.

You may not reach millions. You may not reach thousands. You may not reach hundreds. But you may be the person whom God uses to reach someone who will, in turn, change the world. Or, it may be a child whom you raised in the way of the Lord who reaches someone else who talks to someone else and eventually shares the gospel with someone like Saul. So here is what you need to realize: It’s not over till it’s over.

We need to be faithful in sowing the seed of the Word of God, because we don’t know where that seed will go . . . in this life . . . or in the next generation . . . or in the next one.

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Praying in Jesus’ Name – Charles Stanley

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John 16:19-33

Shortly before the crucifixion, Jesus told His followers to pray in His name—in other words, to make requests according to His will. He pointed out that power is attached to prayer offered this way: “The Father will give you whatever you ask in My name” (John 15:16 niv). Supplication in Christ’s name means we’re declaring our . . .

• Association with the Savior. What makes it possible for us to approach God through prayer is our relationship with Jesus. At salvation, we went from being foreigners and aliens to being children of God. (Eph. 2:19) Our Creator has become our heavenly Father. He hears our requests because we have been made family through the redemptive work of His Son. The presence of Christ’s Spirit within us proves we are one of His own.

• Access to the Father. Jesus’ death opened the way for us to have immediate, unhindered admittance to the Father’s presence. When Jesus finished His work in making the final priestly sacrifice (Heb. 7:28), the veil in the temple, which closed off the Holy of Holies from man, was torn in two. (Mark 15:38) This symbolized the spiritual truth that access to God was now open to all who believe. Through the Holy Spirit, we have the right to talk to God directly without a human intermediary (Eph. 2:18).

Jesus Christ fully paid the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross. Accepting His atoning death on our behalf means we are in a new family relationship and we have unhindered access to the Father. Let’s stop right now and give thanks to God for the incredible privilege of prayer!

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Which Virgin Birth? – Ravi Zacharias

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A while back I received an email from a friend of mine, a retired Princeton University professor, in which he detailed some of his objections to Christianity, and in his last line—as if to trump all other considerations—he wrote, “Nor can I believe in a virgin birth.” No further argument. As if to say, it would be crazy to believe in such a thing.

It did make me think, why is it so often the virgin birth that we have the hardest time accepting? Why not Jesus walking on water? Why not him multiplying the loaves?

Maybe it’s because we’re happy for God to do what he wants with his own body, and we’re happy for him to give us gifts, but we get offended at the thought of a miracle that inconveniences us, that has a claim on our lives, that requires us to respond “I am the Lord’s servant,” as Mary did (Luke 1:38).

I thought to write back to my friend with reasons why perhaps he could believe in a virgin birth. But then I realized, he already does. In fact, every person is committed to a virgin birth, whether they realize it or not.

We find one virgin birth in Chapter 1 of Luke’s Gospel:

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:38).

Admittedly, this is out of the realm of the ordinary. But what exactly is the alternative?

My colleague John Lennox recently debated another Princeton professor—Peter Singer—who is one of the world’s most influential atheists. John challenged him to answer this question: why are we here? And here’s how Peter responded:

“We can assume that somehow in the primeval soup we got collections of molecules that became self-replicating; and I don’t think we need any miraculous or mysterious .”(1)

And I remember thinking, How does us somehow getting self-replicating molecules in the primeval soup not count as a mysterious explanation? That sounds a lot like a virgin birth to me.

Or take the brilliant Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking’s latest attempt to propose an atheistic explanation for our universe: “. . . the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist.”(2)

Is that any less miraculous of a birth than the account from Luke Chapter 1?

We live in a miraculous world. Regardless of whether you are a theist, an atheist, or an agnostic, there’s no getting around that fact. It’s not a matter of whether we believe in a virgin birth, it’s just a matter of which virgin birth we choose to accept.

We can believe in the virgin birth of an atheistic universe that is indifferent to us—a universe where “there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.”(3) Or we can believe in the virgin birth of a God who loves us so deeply that he came to be born among us and to live beside us, to call us “family” (Hebrews 2:11) and “friends” (John 15:15), and to give himself the name “God with us” (Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14).

There is a depth of relationship that is only possible between people who have been through the worst together— those who have been there in each other’s suffering, those who have fought through disaster side by side, those who have sat beside one another in devastation with nothing left to say other than “I know exactly what you’ve been through, and I still love you and I still believe in you.” Because of Jesus, that depth of relationship is possible with God. That is what we celebrate at Christmas.

Growing up near New York City, one of my most vivid memories of Christmas is of homeless people begging on the street corners. And I would give some change if I had some. Imagine someone who offers to trade his home for a cold street corner, who instead of giving a few coins sat down on the street corner himself and handed over the key to his home.

At Christmas, Jesus literally comes and lives in our home—with all of its suffering, sin, and shame—and he shows us the home it will be, the home he is preparing—an eternal home where “[God] will wipe every tear from [our] eyes,” where there will be “no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4).

The way we accept this gift is with simple words: I’m sorry. Thank you.

I’m sorry for the times I’ve hid from you. I’m sorry for the times I’ve run from you. I’m thankful that you didn’t give up on me, but were willing to make even the greatest sacrifice in order to be with me. I want to be with you too, wherever that leads, not only this Christmas but always.

Vince Vitale is a member of the speaking team with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Oxford, England.

(1) “Is There a God,” Melbourne, Australia. 21 July 2011.

(2) Stephen Hawking, The Grand Design (New York: Bantam, 2010), 180.

(3) Richard Dawkins, A River Out of Eden (New York: Perseus, 1995), 133.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning  “I will give thee for a covenant of the people.” / Isaiah 49:8

Jesus Christ is himself the sum and substance of the covenant, and as one of

its gifts. He is the property of every believer. Believer, canst thou estimate

what thou hast gotten in Christ? “In him dwelleth all the fulness of the

Godhead bodily.” Consider that word “God” and its infinity, and then meditate

upon “perfect man” and all his beauty; for all that Christ, as God and man,

ever had, or can have, is thine–out of pure free favour, passed over to thee

to be thine entailed property forever. Our blessed Jesus, as God, is

omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent. Will it not console you to know that all

these great and glorious attributes are altogether yours? Has he power? That

power is yours to support and strengthen you, to overcome your enemies, and to

preserve you even to the end. Has he love? Well, there is not a drop of love

in his heart which is not yours; you may dive into the immense ocean of his

love, and you may say of it all, “It is mine.” Hath he justice? It may seem a

stern attribute, but even that is yours, for he will by his justice see to it

that all which is promised to you in the covenant of grace shall be most

certainly secured to you. And all that he has as perfect man is yours. As a

perfect man the Father’s delight was upon him. He stood accepted by the Most

High. O believer, God’s acceptance of Christ is thine acceptance; for knowest

thou not that the love which the Father set on a perfect Christ, he sets on

thee now? For all that Christ did is thine. That perfect righteousness which

Jesus wrought out, when through his stainless life he kept the law and made it

honourable, is thine, and is imputed to thee. Christ is in the covenant.

“My God, I am thine–what a comfort divine!

What a blessing to know that the Saviour is mine!

In the heavenly Lamb thrice happy I am,

And my heart it doth dance at the sound of his name.”

 

Evening   “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.” / Luke 3:4

The voice crying in the wilderness demanded a way for the Lord, a way

prepared, and a way prepared in the wilderness. I would be attentive to the

Master’s proclamation, and give him a road into my heart, cast up by gracious

operations, through the desert of my nature. The four directions in the text

must have my serious attention.

Every valley must be exalted. Low and grovelling thoughts of God must be given

up; doubting and despairing must be removed; and self-seeking and carnal

delights must be forsaken. Across these deep valleys a glorious causeway of

grace must be raised.

Every mountain and hill shall be laid low. Proud creature-sufficiency, and

boastful self-righteousness, must be levelled, to make a highway for the King

of kings. Divine fellowship is never vouchsafed to haughty, highminded

sinners. The Lord hath respect unto the lowly, and visits the contrite in

heart, but the lofty are an abomination unto him. My soul, beseech the Holy

Spirit to set thee right in this respect.

The crooked shall be made straight. The wavering heart must have a straight

path of decision for God and holiness marked out for it. Double-minded men are

strangers to the God of truth. My soul, take heed that thou be in all things

honest and true, as in the sight of the heart-searching God.

The rough places shall be made smooth. Stumbling-blocks of sin must be

removed, and thorns and briers of rebellion must be uprooted. So great a

visitor must not find miry ways and stony places when he comes to honour his

favoured ones with his company. Oh that this evening the Lord may find in my

heart a highway made ready by his grace, that he may make a triumphal progress

through the utmost bounds of my soul, from the beginning of this year even to

the end of it.

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Blessing the God of Blessings – John MacArthur

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“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us” (Eph. 1:3).

Paul’s brief doxology identifies God the Father as the ultimate recipient and source of blessing–the One to whom blessing is ascribed and the One who bestows blessings on those who love Him.

“Blessed” translates the Greek word euloge[ma]o, from which we get eulogy. To bless or eulogize God is to praise Him for His mighty works and holy character.

That should be the response of your heart just as it has been the response of believers throughout the ages. The psalmist said “Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer” (Ps. 66:20); and “blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone works wonders” (Ps. 72:18). Peter said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet. 1:3).

When the situation is reversed and God blesses us, it isn’t with praise, for apart from Him there is nothing praiseworthy about us. Instead, He gives us undeserved benefits through His many deeds of kindness. Scripture identifies Him as the source of every good thing (James 1:17), who works all things together for our good and His glory (Rom. 8:28).

That is but a sampling of the many blessings He lavishes on us in His Son, Christ Jesus. It’s a marvelous cycle: God blesses us with deeds of kindness; we bless Him with words of praise.

Beware of the sin of thanklessness. Recognize God’s blessings in your life and let them fill your heart and lips

Suggestions for Prayer:   Identify ten specific blessings that God has granted to you in recent days and praise Him for each one.   Ask Him to make you more aware of and thankful for His goodness in your life.  Always be ready to seek forgiveness when you take His blessings for granted.

 

For Further Study:  Read Psalm 103 What blessings does David mention?   How do they apply to your life?

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Missing the Point – Greg Laurie

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And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. —1 Timothy 1:12–13

Saul, who later became the apostle Paul, had a ravenous hunger for knowledge and wanted to be as devout as possible. As a Pharisee, he worked his way up the ranks and became a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, which was like the Supreme Court of that day. With this honor, he would have enjoyed great fame and influence.

However, it could be said that Saul was both famous and, ultimately, infamous. He felt that the followers of the Nazarene known as Jesus were dangerous. He thought they needed to be wiped off the face of the earth. So he made it his mission in life to hunt them down. But he didn’t stop with the Christians who were in his area or jurisdiction. He got extradition papers from the high priest and actually set out for Damascus, which was 140 miles from Jerusalem.

Although it was an arduous and difficult journey, Saul was so filled with hatred that he would go anywhere to find Christians and stop them. He later wrote that he did this ignorantly in unbelief (see 1 Timothy 1:13).

It is hard to understand how a religious person can also be a hateful person. But sometimes people who claim to be devout can be very mean and actually use their religion as a means to destroy. That certainly was a description of Saul.

It can be very frustrating to have to deal with fellow Christians who try to undermine us or hinder us sometimes. But as Vance Havner pointed out, “If we are too busy using our sickles on one another, we’re going to miss the harvest.”

When we are so busy with infighting and arguing over minor points, we can miss the big picture of a lost world that needs to hear the gospel.

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Obeying God – Charles Stanley

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Jeremiah 9:23-24

Peter was a professional fisherman. He knew how to read weather conditions, where to find the best places to fish, and when to end an unproductive session. Because of his expertise, he may have silently questioned the reasonableness of Jesus’ instruction. Why let down the nets when an experienced team of fishermen hadn’t caught anything all night?

At times God asks His children to act in ways that may not seem logical. His request might involve leaving a job or ministry that He provided only recently, taking on more responsibility when life already feels overloaded, or accepting an assignment that appears better suited for someone with a different skill set. Perhaps God’s plan makes no sense in view of age, finances, or health. Yet, because of the One who asks, it will be the absolutely right thing to do. We must decide whether to do what is sensible by human standards or to obey God.

The Bible talks about many people who had to make such a choice. Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son. Noah was told to build an ark on dry land because a flood was coming. Joshua was given a military strategy of marching around Jericho instead of attacking it. Gideon, the inexperienced fighter, was told to send most of his warriors home before the battle (Judges 7:2-3).

Don’t make the mistake of allowing human logic to dictate whether you follow God’s plan. Trust in Him as Peter and those other faithful believers did. When they chose to obey what the Lord was saying, they all experienced divine power released on their behalf.

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Nativity Scenes – Ravi Zacharias

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I have always insisted that my position on December birthdays is that its proprietors are easily neglected. (As a kid, I thought it was a clever way of inspiring sympathy and presents.) We are over-shadowed by Christmas decorations in November and over-looked in December by relatives busy with Christmas errands and office parties. And yet, I have always secretly loved it. On the day I was born, the world was awake, decking the halls, and a great number of them were looking to the birth of another infant. The spirit of Christmas seems a part of my own, the birth of Christ a part of my identity, reminding me each year that I too was born, that I was fragile, that I was held. For those born in December (and for any who remember their own beginnings in the scenes of Advent), the season offers a time of contemplating infantile beginnings, a lesson in what it means to be human, like no other. Stories and celebrations of one’s birth are juxtaposed with a nativity story told long before we were born and one that will continue to be told long after us.

In fact the story of Christianity is a story filled with nativity scenes. In these stories, we are told of a God who is present before we have accomplished anything and longing to gather us long before we know it. Thus David can pray, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” And God can say to the prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” And those who witnessed the miracle of Elizabeth and Zechariah can rightly exclaim God’s hand upon the child before that child could say his own name: “The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, ‘What then is this child going to be?’ For the Lord’s hand was with him.”(1)

In a world where significance and identity are earned by what we do, by what we have accomplished, by what we own, and Christmas is about the lines we fought, the lists we finished, the gifts we were able to secure, the kingdom of God arrives scandalously, jarringly—even offensively—into our captive and often content lives. In this kingdom, a person’s value begins before she has said or done the right things, before he has accumulated the right lifestyle, or even thought to make the right lists. In this kingdom, God not only uses children in the story of salvation, not only calls us to embrace the kingdom as little children, but so the very God of creation steps into the world as a child.

Children are not usually the main characters in the stories we tell, yet the story of Christmas begins and ends with a child most don’t quite know what to do with. Here, a vulnerable baby in a stable of animals breaks in as the harbinger of good news, the fulfillment of all the law and the prophets, the anointed leader who comes to set the captives free—wrapped in rags and resting in a manger. Coming as a child, God radically draws near, while at the same time radically overthrowing our conceptions of status, worth, power, and authority. Jesus is crowned king long before he can sit in a throne. He begins overturning idols and upsetting social order long before he can even speak.

If truth be told, perhaps I feel a certain delight in celebrating births and birthdays at Christmastime because it is the season in which it is most appropriate—and most hopeful—to remember our fragility, our dependency, and the great reversal of the kingdom of God: For God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.(2) Advent, like childhood, reminds us that we are in need of someone to hold us. It also reminds us that, like the baby in a Bethlehem stable, we too are somewhat out of place, longing for home in the midst of it. The image of a tearful baby in a manager is a picture of God in his most shocking, unbefitting state—the Most High becoming the lowest, the face of God wrapped tightly in a young girl’s arms.

How true that to be human is to be implicitly religious, for even within our most deeply felt needs for love and refuge, we are reminded that there is one who comes so very far to meet us. Inherent in our most vulnerable days, whoever we are, is the hope that God, too, took on the despairing quality of fragility in order to offer the hope of wholeness. In our most weakened states of despair and shortcoming, Christ breaks in and shows the paradoxical power of God in an unlikely nativity scene. Glory to God in the lowest, indeed.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

(1) cf. Psalm 139:13-14, Jeremiah 1:5, Luke 1:65-66.

(2) 1 Corinthians 1:27.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning  “Continue in prayer.” / Colossians 4:2

It is interesting to remark how large a portion of Sacred Writ is occupied

with the subject of prayer, either in furnishing examples, enforcing precepts,

or pronouncing promises. We scarcely open the Bible before we read, “Then

began men to call upon the name of the Lord;” and just as we are about to

close the volume, the “Amen” of an earnest supplication meets our ear.

Instances are plentiful. Here we find a wrestling Jacob–there a Daniel who

prayed three times a day–and a David who with all his heart called upon his

God. On the mountain we see Elias; in the dungeon Paul and Silas. We have

multitudes of commands, and myriads of promises. What does this teach us, but

the sacred importance and necessity of prayer? We may be certain that whatever

God has made prominent in his Word, he intended to be conspicuous in our

lives. If he has said much about prayer, it is because he knows we have much

need of it. So deep are our necessities, that until we are in heaven we must

not cease to pray. Dost thou want nothing? Then, I fear thou dost not know thy

poverty. Hast thou no mercy to ask of God? Then, may the Lord’s mercy show

thee thy misery! A prayerless soul is a Christless soul. Prayer is the lisping

of the believing infant, the shout of the fighting believer, the requiem of

the dying saint falling asleep in Jesus. It is the breath, the watchword, the

comfort, the strength, the honour of a Christian. If thou be a child of God,

thou wilt seek thy Father’s face, and live in thy Father’s love. Pray that

this year thou mayst be holy, humble, zealous, and patient; have closer

communion with Christ, and enter oftener into the banqueting-house of his

love. Pray that thou mayst be an example and a blessing unto others, and that

thou mayst live more to the glory of thy Master. The motto for this year must

be, “Continue in prayer.”

 

Evening  “Let the people renew their strength.” / Isaiah 41:1

All things on earth need to be renewed. No created thing continueth by itself.

“Thou renewest the face of the year,” was the Psalmist’s utterance. Even the

trees, which wear not themselves with care, nor shorten their lives with

labour, must drink of the rain of heaven and suck from the hidden treasures of

the soil. The cedars of Lebanon, which God has planted, only live because day

by day they are full of sap fresh drawn from the earth. Neither can man’s life

be sustained without renewal from God. As it is necessary to repair the waste

of the body by the frequent meal, so we must repair the waste of the soul by

feeding upon the Book of God, or by listening to the preached Word, or by the

soul-fattening table of the ordinances. How depressed are our graces when

means are neglected! What poor starvelings some saints are who live without

the diligent use of the Word of God and secret prayer! If our piety can live

without God it is not of divine creating; it is but a dream; for if God had

begotten it, it would wait upon him as the flowers wait upon the dew. Without

constant restoration we are not ready for the perpetual assaults of hell, or

the stern afflictions of heaven, or even for the strifes within. When the

whirlwind shall be loosed, woe to the tree that hath not sucked up fresh sap,

and grasped the rock with many intertwisted roots. When tempests arise, woe to

the mariners that have not strengthened their mast, nor cast their anchor, nor

sought the haven. If we suffer the good to grow weaker, the evil will surely

gather strength and struggle desperately for the mastery over us; and so,

perhaps, a painful desolation, and a lamentable disgrace may follow. Let us

draw near to the footstool of divine mercy in humble entreaty, and we shall

realize the fulfilment of the promise, “They that wait on the Lord shall renew

their strength.”

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Experiencing God’s Peace – John MacArthur

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“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 1:2)

Throughout history mankind has sought peace through military alliances, balances of power, and leagues of nations. Yet lasting peace still remains an elusive dream. Even during times of relative peace, nations struggle with internal strife and crime.

The Bible says that man on his own cannot know peace because he is alienated from its source. But we need not despair. True peace is immediately available from God our Father (the God of peace–Rom. 15:33), and the Lord Jesus Christ (the Prince of Peace–Isa. 9:6). It’s a gift of God’s grace to those who love and obey Jesus Christ.

The New Testament so clearly teaches the inextricable link between God’s grace and peace that “Grace to you and peace” became a common greeting in the early church. Grace is God’s great kindness toward those who are undeserving of His favor but who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. It is the fountain and peace is the stream. As recipients of His grace, we have peace with God (Rom. 5:1)–we are reconciled to Him through faith in His Son and we will never experience His wrath. We also have the peace of God (Phil. 4:7)–the Spirit’s way of assuring us that God is in control even in the midst of difficult circumstances. That’s why Paul calls it the peace that surpasses all comprehension (Phil. 4:7).

The world’s peace is relative and fleeting because it is grounded in circumstances. God’s peace is absolute and eternal because it is grounded in His grace. Does God’s peace reign in your heart, or have you allowed sin or difficult circumstances to diminish your devotion to Christ?

Suggestions for Prayer:      Thank God that you have peace with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. Ask the Spirit to reveal any sin that might be hindering God’s peace from ruling in your heart. Be prepared to respond in confession and repentance. Ask for opportunities to demonstrate God’s peace to others today.

For Further Study:  Read Philippians 4:6-7    What is God’s antidote for anxiety?    How does God’s peace affect a believer’s heart and mind?