Daily Devotions and Scripture Readings
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Poster:
Logan
|
2006/01/17 02:26:59 AM
I decided to post Spurgeon's Morning and Evening while I'm doing them in the morning and evening myself. JJ mentioned that she didn't have a devotional book so this would be a good way to share it. I figured that I could share it with anyone else who wished to read it as well and then discussion can follow if need be.
âThe Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself.â
- Dan_9:26
Blessed be his name, there was no cause of death in him. Neither original nor actual sin had defiled him, and therefore death had no claim upon him. No man could have taken his life from him justly, for he had done no man wrong, and no man could even have slain him by force unless he had been pleased to yield himself to die. But lo, one sins and another suffers. Justice was offended by us, but found its satisfaction in him. Rivers of tears, mountains of offerings, seas of the blood of bullocks, and hills of frankincense, could not have availed for the removal of sin; but Jesus was cut off for us, and the cause of wrath was cut off at once, for sin was put away for ever. Herein is wisdom, whereby substitution, the sure and speedy way of atonement, was devised! Herein is condescension, which brought Messiah, the Prince, to wear a crown of thorns, and die upon the cross! Herein is love, which led the Redeemer to lay down his life for his enemies!
It is not enough, however, to admire the spectacle of the innocent bleeding for the guilty, we must make sure of our interest therein. The special object of the Messiahâs death was the salvation of his church; have we a part and a lot among those for whom he gave his life a ransom? Did the Lord Jesus stand as our representative? Are we healed by his stripes? It will be a terrible thing indeed if we should come short of a portion in his sacrifice; it were better for us that we had never been born. Solemn as the question is, it is a joyful circumstance that it is one which may be answered clearly and without mistake. To all who believe on him the Lord Jesus is a present Saviour, and upon them all the blood of reconciliation has been sprinkled. Let all who trust in the merit of Messiahâs death be joyful at every remembrance of him, and let their holy gratitude lead them to the fullest consecration to his cause.
âThe Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself.â
- Dan_9:26
Blessed be his name, there was no cause of death in him. Neither original nor actual sin had defiled him, and therefore death had no claim upon him. No man could have taken his life from him justly, for he had done no man wrong, and no man could even have slain him by force unless he had been pleased to yield himself to die. But lo, one sins and another suffers. Justice was offended by us, but found its satisfaction in him. Rivers of tears, mountains of offerings, seas of the blood of bullocks, and hills of frankincense, could not have availed for the removal of sin; but Jesus was cut off for us, and the cause of wrath was cut off at once, for sin was put away for ever. Herein is wisdom, whereby substitution, the sure and speedy way of atonement, was devised! Herein is condescension, which brought Messiah, the Prince, to wear a crown of thorns, and die upon the cross! Herein is love, which led the Redeemer to lay down his life for his enemies!
It is not enough, however, to admire the spectacle of the innocent bleeding for the guilty, we must make sure of our interest therein. The special object of the Messiahâs death was the salvation of his church; have we a part and a lot among those for whom he gave his life a ransom? Did the Lord Jesus stand as our representative? Are we healed by his stripes? It will be a terrible thing indeed if we should come short of a portion in his sacrifice; it were better for us that we had never been born. Solemn as the question is, it is a joyful circumstance that it is one which may be answered clearly and without mistake. To all who believe on him the Lord Jesus is a present Saviour, and upon them all the blood of reconciliation has been sprinkled. Let all who trust in the merit of Messiahâs death be joyful at every remembrance of him, and let their holy gratitude lead them to the fullest consecration to his cause.
Poster:
Logan
|
2006/01/17 02:31:01 AM
What I gathered from that section was that it isn't enough to merely admire Jesus for what he did (dying for the guilty when he had commited no crime), many admire him as a good teacher who died for what he believed in, it's not enough merely to believe in the resurrection as well, one needs to make it personal, to realize that Jesus died for ME, that I am the vilest of sinners and deserve the fires of hell for all eternity yet Jesus, out of his love for me, died on the cross that I might have eternal life. Me, who by very nature hated him!
That is what a person needs to come to realize, the condition he or she is in before Christ and how much he or she needs him as their personal Saviour, otherwise they will perish as they deserve for rejecting him. It's not merely a nice thing he did for people, it is what he accomplished for me, personally, a sinner.
And of course the main point is the Christ didn't die for his own sins, there was no reason for him to die apart from that he loved us.
---
As we learned in Narnia....
That is what a person needs to come to realize, the condition he or she is in before Christ and how much he or she needs him as their personal Saviour, otherwise they will perish as they deserve for rejecting him. It's not merely a nice thing he did for people, it is what he accomplished for me, personally, a sinner.
And of course the main point is the Christ didn't die for his own sins, there was no reason for him to die apart from that he loved us.
---
As we learned in Narnia....
Poster:
JJ14
|
2006/01/17 02:36:12 AM
How thoughtful :) It's good idea.
It was a very interesitng devotional. It's interesting to think that Christ's only reason for dying was so that we could be saved. Amazing isn't it? That he would die for poor wretched souls? That he loved us that much. It boggles the mind :
---
Every Day Is A Gift From God
It was a very interesitng devotional. It's interesting to think that Christ's only reason for dying was so that we could be saved. Amazing isn't it? That he would die for poor wretched souls? That he loved us that much. It boggles the mind :
---
Every Day Is A Gift From God
Poster:
Logan
|
2006/01/17 12:29:28 PM
January 17th, Morning
âAnd I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion.â
- Rev_14:1
The apostle John was privileged to look within the gates of heaven, and in describing what he saw, he begins by saying, âI looked, and, lo, a Lamb!â This teaches us that the chief object of contemplation in the heavenly state is âthe Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.â Nothing else attracted the apostleâs attention so much as the person of that Divine Being, who hath redeemed us by his blood. He is the theme of the songs of all glorified spirits and holy angels. Christian, here is joy for thee; thou hast looked, and thou hast seen the Lamb. Through thy tears thine eyes have seen the Lamb of God taking away thy sins. Rejoice, then. In a little while, when thine eyes shall have been wiped from tears, thou wilt see the same Lamb exalted on his throne. It is the joy of thy heart to hold daily fellowship with Jesus; thou shalt have the same joy to a higher degree in heaven; thou shalt enjoy the constant vision of his presence; thou shalt dwell with him for ever. âI looked, and, lo, a Lamb!â Why, that Lamb is heaven itself; for as good Rutherford says, âHeaven and Christ are the same thing;â to be with Christ is to be in heaven, and to be in heaven is to be with Christ. That prisoner of the Lord very sweetly writes in one of his glowing letters-âO my Lord Jesus Christ, if I could be in heaven without thee, it would be a hell; and if I could be in hell, and have thee still, it would be a heaven to me, for thou art all the heaven I want.â It is true, is it not, Christian? Does not thy soul say so?
âNot all the harps above
Can make a heavenly place,
If God his residence remove,
Or but conceal his face.â
All thou needest to make thee blessed, supremely blessed, is âto be with Christ.â
âAnd I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion.â
- Rev_14:1
The apostle John was privileged to look within the gates of heaven, and in describing what he saw, he begins by saying, âI looked, and, lo, a Lamb!â This teaches us that the chief object of contemplation in the heavenly state is âthe Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.â Nothing else attracted the apostleâs attention so much as the person of that Divine Being, who hath redeemed us by his blood. He is the theme of the songs of all glorified spirits and holy angels. Christian, here is joy for thee; thou hast looked, and thou hast seen the Lamb. Through thy tears thine eyes have seen the Lamb of God taking away thy sins. Rejoice, then. In a little while, when thine eyes shall have been wiped from tears, thou wilt see the same Lamb exalted on his throne. It is the joy of thy heart to hold daily fellowship with Jesus; thou shalt have the same joy to a higher degree in heaven; thou shalt enjoy the constant vision of his presence; thou shalt dwell with him for ever. âI looked, and, lo, a Lamb!â Why, that Lamb is heaven itself; for as good Rutherford says, âHeaven and Christ are the same thing;â to be with Christ is to be in heaven, and to be in heaven is to be with Christ. That prisoner of the Lord very sweetly writes in one of his glowing letters-âO my Lord Jesus Christ, if I could be in heaven without thee, it would be a hell; and if I could be in hell, and have thee still, it would be a heaven to me, for thou art all the heaven I want.â It is true, is it not, Christian? Does not thy soul say so?
âNot all the harps above
Can make a heavenly place,
If God his residence remove,
Or but conceal his face.â
All thou needest to make thee blessed, supremely blessed, is âto be with Christ.â
Poster:
Logan
|
2006/01/17 12:37:37 PM
Not much can be said upon this, except Amen! May it be so Lord!
I also wanted to point out of course that the "heaven and Christ are the same thing" is not taken literally but figuratively, in other words, Christ is far more important to the believer than any streets of gold, gates made of pearls, or all the angels or saints who are there, Christ is who we long for, it is Christ that we desire to see face to face, it is he whom we want to know more fully.
The Scripture reading for this morning is Genesis 41. I want you to notice, as you go through (and I'll try to discuss) how amazing it is that well, God had a plan of redemption right from the beginning. When Adam and Eve sinned, God promised that the woman's "Seed" would crush the serpent's head, and the serpent would bruise his heel. Signifying that though Satan would "sting" or hurt Christ, Christ would ultimately crush Satan.
Then in Noah, God makes his covenant with him.
With Abram (or later Abraham) he promises that he will raise up a godly Seed for him, and according to Paul (who quotes that) it is Christ whom that Seed refers to, and Abraham believed in God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. All through the ceremonial system, God had a larger plan in mind, everything pointed to Christ and the people longed for a redeemer, they trusted that God would bring a redeemer, yes, Old Testament believers were saved in the same way we are today, they trusted in Christ! Though they did not know his name or when he would come, they trusted that God would send a redeemer who would pay for their sins.
When I was growing up I had the idea that God was quite different in the Old Testament than he is in the New. In the New he became all loving, in the old he was very wrathful. Well, that is not true, God has been the same but now that we have the fulfillment and the completeness of the Scriptures, we can see the whole picture now, how God did love his people and had a plan to save them all along, which finally culminated in Jesus Christ. Yes, he specifically commanded them to destroy certain evil nations and no, that does not give us the right to do so today, how those two match up will become more clear as we go along I hope.
Logan
---
As we learned in Narnia....
I also wanted to point out of course that the "heaven and Christ are the same thing" is not taken literally but figuratively, in other words, Christ is far more important to the believer than any streets of gold, gates made of pearls, or all the angels or saints who are there, Christ is who we long for, it is Christ that we desire to see face to face, it is he whom we want to know more fully.
The Scripture reading for this morning is Genesis 41. I want you to notice, as you go through (and I'll try to discuss) how amazing it is that well, God had a plan of redemption right from the beginning. When Adam and Eve sinned, God promised that the woman's "Seed" would crush the serpent's head, and the serpent would bruise his heel. Signifying that though Satan would "sting" or hurt Christ, Christ would ultimately crush Satan.
Then in Noah, God makes his covenant with him.
With Abram (or later Abraham) he promises that he will raise up a godly Seed for him, and according to Paul (who quotes that) it is Christ whom that Seed refers to, and Abraham believed in God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. All through the ceremonial system, God had a larger plan in mind, everything pointed to Christ and the people longed for a redeemer, they trusted that God would bring a redeemer, yes, Old Testament believers were saved in the same way we are today, they trusted in Christ! Though they did not know his name or when he would come, they trusted that God would send a redeemer who would pay for their sins.
When I was growing up I had the idea that God was quite different in the Old Testament than he is in the New. In the New he became all loving, in the old he was very wrathful. Well, that is not true, God has been the same but now that we have the fulfillment and the completeness of the Scriptures, we can see the whole picture now, how God did love his people and had a plan to save them all along, which finally culminated in Jesus Christ. Yes, he specifically commanded them to destroy certain evil nations and no, that does not give us the right to do so today, how those two match up will become more clear as we go along I hope.
Logan
---
As we learned in Narnia....
Poster:
JJ14
|
2006/01/17 13:44:56 PM
I've never heard of the "Heaven is Christ". Figuratively speaking, it's a very interesting idea. :) I certainly hope that Chrsit would be more important to the Christian that streets of gold, or gates of pearls or anyhting like that :) I know it's more important to me :)
It's funny that yout thought taht way when you were a kid, but I gues a lot of people do take it that way. Some people use God's wrath as an excuse not to believe in Him. It's sad, don't you think?
---
Every Day Is A Gift From God
It's funny that yout thought taht way when you were a kid, but I gues a lot of people do take it that way. Some people use God's wrath as an excuse not to believe in Him. It's sad, don't you think?
---
Every Day Is A Gift From God
Poster:
Logan
|
2006/01/17 17:59:47 PM
Well yes, to the believer, heaven is being with Christ, that is the whole hope that we have, that we will be able to know and worship Christ without the earthly restrictions we have now, everything else is entirely insignificant next to that glorious hope.
---
As we learned in Narnia....
---
As we learned in Narnia....
Poster:
JJ14
|
2006/01/17 23:02:01 PM
Yes. Now that you say it tha way, I understnad it more. Explaining certainly helps sometimes. :)
I like these devotions. They're really interesting :)
---
Every Day Is A Gift From God
I like these devotions. They're really interesting :)
---
Every Day Is A Gift From God
Poster:
JJ14
|
2006/01/17 23:02:25 PM
HAve you noticed that we are the only two posting on this topic? :
---
Every Day Is A Gift From God
---
Every Day Is A Gift From God
Poster:
Logan
|
2006/01/18 03:24:08 AM
âAnd it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the kingâs house.â
- 2Sa_11:2
At that hour David saw Bathsheba. We are never out of the reach of temptation. Both at home and abroad we are liable to meet with allurements to evil; the morning opens with peril, and the shades of evening find us still in jeopardy. They are well kept whom God keeps, but woe unto those who go forth into the world, or even dare to walk their own house unarmed. Those who think themselves secure are more exposed to danger than any others. The armour-bearer of Sin is Self-confidence.
David should have been engaged in fighting the Lordâs battles, instead of which he tarried at Jerusalem, and gave himself up to luxurious repose, for he arose from his bed at eventide. Idleness and luxury are the devilâs jackals, and find him abundant prey. In stagnant waters noxious creatures swarm, and neglected soil soon yields a dense tangle of weeds and briars. Oh for the constraining love of Jesus to keep us active and useful! When I see the King of Israel sluggishly leaving his couch at the close of the day, and falling at once into temptation, let me take warning, and set holy watchfulness to guard the door.
Is it possible that the king had mounted his housetop for retirement and devotion? If so, what a caution is given us to count no place, however secret, a sanctuary from sin! While our hearts are so like a tinder-box, and sparks so plentiful, we had need use all diligence in all places to prevent a blaze. Satan can climb housetops, and enter closets, and even if we could shut out that foul fiend, our own corruptions are enough to work our ruin unless grace prevent. Reader, beware of evening temptations. Be not secure. The sun is down but sin is up. We need a watchman for the night as well as a guardian for the day. O blessed Spirit, keep us from all evil this night. Amen.
- 2Sa_11:2
At that hour David saw Bathsheba. We are never out of the reach of temptation. Both at home and abroad we are liable to meet with allurements to evil; the morning opens with peril, and the shades of evening find us still in jeopardy. They are well kept whom God keeps, but woe unto those who go forth into the world, or even dare to walk their own house unarmed. Those who think themselves secure are more exposed to danger than any others. The armour-bearer of Sin is Self-confidence.
David should have been engaged in fighting the Lordâs battles, instead of which he tarried at Jerusalem, and gave himself up to luxurious repose, for he arose from his bed at eventide. Idleness and luxury are the devilâs jackals, and find him abundant prey. In stagnant waters noxious creatures swarm, and neglected soil soon yields a dense tangle of weeds and briars. Oh for the constraining love of Jesus to keep us active and useful! When I see the King of Israel sluggishly leaving his couch at the close of the day, and falling at once into temptation, let me take warning, and set holy watchfulness to guard the door.
Is it possible that the king had mounted his housetop for retirement and devotion? If so, what a caution is given us to count no place, however secret, a sanctuary from sin! While our hearts are so like a tinder-box, and sparks so plentiful, we had need use all diligence in all places to prevent a blaze. Satan can climb housetops, and enter closets, and even if we could shut out that foul fiend, our own corruptions are enough to work our ruin unless grace prevent. Reader, beware of evening temptations. Be not secure. The sun is down but sin is up. We need a watchman for the night as well as a guardian for the day. O blessed Spirit, keep us from all evil this night. Amen.