Devotionals

“Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.” 1 Peter 1:21 Observe the special mark which is here given of those for whom Christ was manifested. It is said of them that “by him they believe … Read more

“We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22 What are the promises? Are not all the promises suited to the Lord’s poor and needy family? What are the promises of pardon, except to the guilty? What are promises of salvation, except to the lost? What are promises of consolation, except … Read more

“Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good.” Jeremiah 32:41 God rejoices as much in saving your soul as you can rejoice in your soul being saved. Say I “as much?” His joy is infinite, and yours is finite; his the joy of God, and yours but the joy of man. Do you … Read more

“Which holdeth our soul in life.” Psalm 66:9 It is indeed an unspeakable mercy for the heirs of promise that the life given them in Christ and communicated by the Holy Spirit to their souls cannot be extinguished. It may sink very low—one can hardly say how low, but so low as to sink out … Read more

“Draw me; we will run after thee.” Song of Solomon 1:4 How many of us can take the words of the bride into our lips, or have ever been able at any one time of our life to use such an expression? We must have had some sight and sense of the preciousness and loveliness … Read more

“My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 How mysterious are God’s dealings! That such a highly-favoured man as Paul should come down from the “third heaven” to the very gates of hell (that is not too strong an expression, for “the messenger of Satan” came … Read more

“The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.” 2 Samuel 23:2 We read that “no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation;” that is to say, it is the public property of the whole family of Jehovah; and “holy men of God spake as they were … Read more

“O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.” Jeremiah 10:24 “Fury is not in me,” saith the Lord. No; there is no wrath in the bosom of God against the persons of his people. They are for ever “accepted in the Beloved,” and stand in him … Read more

“God is the Lord, which hath shewed us light.” Psalm 118:27 If God the Lord hath shewed us light, he hath shewed us light both with respect to himself and with respect to ourselves. He hath shewed us with respect to himself who he is; he hath stamped something of himself upon our consciences; he … Read more

“And they that use this world, as not abusing it; for the fashion of this world passeth away.” 1 Corinthians 7:31 Nothing is real but that which has an abiding substance. Health decays, strength diminishes, beauty flees the cheek, sight and hearing grow dim, the mind itself gets feeble, riches make to themselves wings and … Read more

“The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:10 The Spirit of God which dwelleth in a man, making his body his temple, searcheth the deep things of God; for there is in these deep things a most heavenly treasure, which is to be searched into that it may be … Read more

“At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 17:7 In the very name “the Holy One of Israel,” there is something the sweetness of which melts the heart of a poor sensible sinner. For what is he in himself as … Read more

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 1 Peter 1:18, 19 O the unspeakable depths of the goodness and mercy … Read more

“The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:17 A life of faith in Christ is as necessary to our present and experimental salvation as his death upon the cross was to our past and actual salvation. If you are alive to what you are as a poor fallen sinner, you see yourself surrounded by enemies, … Read more

“Jesus saith, Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” John 20:17 Why your Father? Because my Father. Why your God? Because my God. As his only-begotten Son from all eternity, God was the God of our Lord Jesus Christ; … Read more

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3 The resurrection of Jesus Christ was God’s grand attestation to the truth of his divine mission and Sonship, … Read more

“Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies.” Psalm 103:4 The coronation of a king puts the last and highest seal upon his reigning authority. This made the spouse say, “Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, … Read more

“For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.” Psalm 109:31 How cheering, how comforting it is, to have a friend to stand by us when we are in trouble. Such a friend is Jesus. In the hour of necessity, he comes as a … Read more

“Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion.” Jeremiah 31:12 Until the redeemed know something of the efficacy of atoning blood and have their consciences purged from guilt and filth by its application, they cannot come and sing in the height of Zion. But when they are redeemed from the hand of … Read more

“For we which have believed do enter into rest.” Hebrews 4:3 We enter into rest by ceasing from our own works, and resting on Christ’s; according to the words, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” Now when you can fully … Read more

“Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.” 1 Peter 1:6 As everything by nature in us is contrary to the life of God, there is a needs-be for manifold trials and temptations to bring us out of those things which are opposed to … Read more

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13 When God has worked in a man “to will,” and not only worked in him “to will,” but also worked in him “to do;” when he has made him willing to flee from the wrath … Read more

“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Philippians 2:12 None but God’s people under the teachings of the Spirit know what it is to “work out their own salvation.” And all who work out their own salvation will work it out “with fear and trembling.” For when a man is taught by God … Read more

“I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself.” Jeremiah 31:18 The spiritual feeling of sin is indispensable to the feeling of salvation. A sense of the malady must ever precede, and prepare the soul for, a believing reception and due apprehension of the remedy. Wherever God intends to reveal his Son with power, wherever he intends … Read more

“Follow after righteousness.” 1 Timothy 6:11 We may understand two things by this expression. First, the discovery to the conscience of Christ’s imputed righteousness, in the way of justification; and secondly, the communication to the soul of a divine or righteous nature, whereby it brings forth the fruits of sincerity and uprightness before God. Both … Read more

“In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:22 These words will apply both to the whole body of Christ viewed collectively, and to each separate member of that body viewed individually; and what the Church of God is in its completeness in Christ, as it will … Read more

“My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.” Psalm 62:5 I believe that the Lord, before ever he communicates a real blessing to the souls of his poor and needy children, not merely convinces them by the Spirit of the depth of their poverty, of their truly ruined and lost … Read more

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 Has the Lord made sin your burden? Has he ever made you feel guilty before him? Has he ever pressed down your conscience with a sight and sense of your … Read more

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” 2 Corinthians 4:17 O ye suffering saints of God! ye tried and afflicted children of the most High! raise up your thoughts as God may enable you—lift up your eyes, and see what … Read more

“Ye believe in God, believe also in me.” John 14:1 To believe in God is to believe in him as he has manifested himself in his dear Son in all the fulness of his love, in all the riches of his grace, and in all the depth of his mercy. God must be seen, not … Read more

“Though I be nothing.” 2 Corinthians 12:11 Paul did not mean to say that he had no religion, but none in himself. ‘What! could not Paul stand against temptation?’ Not more than you or I, unassisted by the grace of God. ‘Could not Paul pray more than I can?’ No, not at all, except so … Read more

“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” Jeremiah 30:7 This “day of trouble” is when sin is laid as a heavy burden upon a man’s conscience; when guilt presses him down into the dust … Read more

“I lead in the way of righteousness.” Proverbs 8:20 How does the Lord Jesus—who speaks here under the name of Wisdom— lead his saints “in the way of righteousness?” By casting a mysterious light into their souls, whereby they see what the word of God has revealed, and shedding abroad a mysterious power in their … Read more

“Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.” Jonah 2:4 When poor Jonah spake these words he uttered them in the very bitterness of his heart; he felt that he was cast out of God’s gracious presence. But he must have known something experimentally … Read more

“Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.” 1 Peter 1:20 By “these last times” is meant this present dispensation, the dispensation of grace under which we live, and they are called the last times chiefly for two reasons: 1. Because Christ was manifested … Read more

“Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” Psalm 81:10 When the Lord favours your soul with sweet access at a throne of grace, make the most of it. What should we think of the master of a vessel coming up the river, if, when the wind was favourable and the tide served, he … Read more

“That I may glory with thine inheritance.” Psalm 106:5 The Church is Christ’s inheritance. He purchased it by his own blood. He went into captivity for it, and he redeemed it by pouring out his precious blood for it. Now this inheritance glories: “That I may glory with thine inheritance.” And in whom does it … Read more

“That I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation.” Psalm 106:5 What is “the gladness of God’s nation?” To be saved “without money and without price;” to be saved by grace—free, rich, sovereign, distinguishing grace, without one atom of works, without one grain of creature merit, without anything of the flesh. This is “the … Read more

“That I may see the good of thy chosen.” Psalm 106:5 Did you ever see any good in God’s chosen? Oh! “how goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!” Did you ever see what good God has blessed his people with, and how good it is to be one of them? … Read more

“Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation.” Psalm 106:4 How is a man brought and taught to want to be “visited with” God’s salvation? He must know something first of condemnation. Salvation only suits the condemned. “The Son of man came to seek … Read more

“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26, 27 There is no middle path … Read more

“I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.” Ezekiel 21:27 Are there not seasons in our experience when we can lay down our souls before God, and say, “Let Christ be precious to my soul, let him come … Read more

“As dying, and, behold, we live.” 2 Corinthians 6:9 Though we die, and die daily, yet, behold, we live; and in a sense, the more we die, the more we live. The more we die to self, the more we die to sin; the more we die to pride and self-righteousness, the more we die … Read more

“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Colossians 3:2 Everything upon earth, as viewed by the eyes of the Majesty of heaven, is low and paltry. Earth is after all but a huge clod of dust, and as such, apart from its having been once the place of the Redeemer’s … Read more

“Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him.” Psalm 62:8 Have we not sometimes been enabled to pour out our hearts at a throne of grace, and tell the Lord what we really wanted, what we really asked for, and tell him that nothing but that which he alone … Read more

“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 1 John 5:4 If we are to be saved our faith must gain the day; we must have a faith that shall triumph over death and hell and gain a glorious conquest over every … Read more

“O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” Psalm 90:14 Many of the dear children of God are tossed up and down on a sea of great uncertainty, doubt and fear, because they have not had sensible manifestations of Christ to their soul. He has not … Read more

“Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:19 When God takes all our iniquities with his own hand, and casts them with his own arm into the depths of the sea, they will never come out of those depths to witness against the family of God in the great … Read more

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.” Colossians 3:16 This surely means something more than merely reading the word in a careless, formal manner. It is “to dwell in us,” that is, take up its firm and lasting abode in our heart, and that “richly;” not poorly and niggardly, but … Read more

“I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.” Jeremiah 32:40 As the fear of God springs up in a believing soul, and is maintained and kept alive by the influences which come out of Christ as a covenant Head, it produces, as its effects, an abiding in him. … Read more