Mon., 5/27/19 Devotion (2 Jn. 9)

Today's encouragement comes from 2 John, v. 9, where we read these words:

"Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son."

Sometimes we hear perhaps well-meaning but ignorant people say things like this: "Doctrine is bad. Who needs it? It only causes trouble and division among Christians." Actually, those statements themselves *are* doctrinal—but they demonstrate very *bad* doctrine.

We cannot have Christ without doctrine; and this is the biggest reason doc-trine is so critically-important. Good doctrine leads God's church directly *to* Jesus, and seeks to keep us there (in His Being). Bad and vacuous doctrine leaves people out in the theological "cold.” Let us not be ashamed of Christ, nor His doctrine. We cannot have one without the other.

[Puritan quote of the day: "A praying man can never be very miserable, what-ever his condition be, for he has the ear of God . . . “ —William Bridge, in, "A Lifting Up for the Downcast"]

Fri.-Sabbath, 5/24-26/19 Devotion

Praise God—Sunday is almost here! Let us prepare ourselves well for our high and holy calling of the worship of God in His church on the Lord's Day. Toward that end, here is Thomas Watson, from "A Test of Assurance: How we Know Whether we Love God?":

"He who loves God IS NOT MUCH IN LOVE WITH ANYTHING ELSE. His love is very cool to worldly things. His love to God moves swiftly, as the sun in the firmament; to the world it moves slowly, as the sun on the dial. The love of the world eats out the heart of religion; it chokes good affections, as earth puts out fire. The world was a dead thing to Paul: 'I am crucified to the world, and the world is crucified to me,' (Gal. 6:14). In Paul we may see both the picture and pattern of a mortified man. He that loves God, uses the world but chooses God. The world engages him, but God delights and satisfies him. He says as David, 'God my exceeding joy,' the gladness or cream of my joy, (Ps. 43:4).

"He who loves God CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT HIM. Things we love we can-not be without. A man can do without music or flowers, but not food; so a soul deeply in love with God looks upon himself as undone without Him. 'Hide not Your face from me, lest I be like them that go down into the pit,' (Ps. 143:7).
. . . Is God our chief good, and we cannot live without Him? Alas! how do they show they have no love to God who can do well enough without Him! Let them have corn and oil, and you shall never hear them complain of the lack of God."

Thurs., 5/23/19 Devotion (1 Jn. 2:8b)

Today's encouragement comes from 1 John 2:8b, where we read these words:

" . . . Because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining."

Ever since Christ's first advent, with His glorious resurrection from the dead, His ascension into heaven, and His pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the New Covenant saints, God's light of Jesus and His church kingdom have been ad-vancing, and the world's and the devil's darkness have been on the retreat.

Does this always *appear* to us to be the case, from our limited (and emo-tion-laden) perspectives? No. But it is always better to trust the promises and assertions of God Himself, rather than our own feelings. Since God has clear-ly said that the "darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shin-ing," let us, His faithful church, believe Him.

[Puritan quote of the day: "Pray as we are able, hear as we are able, strive as we are able, do as we are able, according to the measure of grace received.” —Richard Sibbes, in, "The Bruised Reed"]

Wed., 5/22/19 Devotion (1 Pet. 1:7c, 8a)

Today's encouragement comes from 1 Peter 1:7c & 8a, where we read these words:

" . . . Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. . . . "

Is it possible to love Someone we have not seen with the eyes of our flesh? For that matter, is it possible to believe in the existence of that Someone (God), whom we have not seen? Indeed, the answer to these questions is, "Yes." How do we know that Jesus Christ lives; and that we may believe in Him and love Him? Through credible witnesses. The ultimate Witness is the Holy Spirit Himself (Rom. 8:16).

If we sincerely love the God we have not seen with the eyes of our body, we are blessed. Jesus said as much, in Jn. 20:29. The greatest realities are un-seen ones. Even atheists must employ [these unseen realities], in order to deny them. Let us love the Christ who is as much *with* us, as we are with ourselves.

[Puritan quote of the day: "Compare sin with hell, and you shall see that sin is worse." --Thomas Watson, in, "The Doctrine of Repentance"]

Tues., 5/21/19 Devotion (2 Pet. 3:18a)

Today's encouragement comes from 2 Peter 3:18a, where we read these words:

" . . . But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. . . . "

How does a church full of regenerate Christians *grow* in "the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ"? Certainly, by being well-fed. The context of Peter's injunction (above) is largely that of the proper use and understanding of the word of God (the sacred scriptures)—particularly as they are preached.

Believers *grow* when we ingest Jesus as The Word—being hungry for Him alone. The written word, which is the basis and foundation of the church's preached word, always points everyone to The Incarnate Word (Jesus), (the "Logos," of Jn. 1:1). This "Word” (Christ) is The ultimate Revelation of God. Only He (Jesus) can "feed" us. He feeds us His own Person, His "flesh" and "blood," in the preached Gospel, and in the proper administration of the sac-rament of The Lord's Supper.

[Puritan quote of the day: "Every godly, gracious man is a praying man.”
—William Bridge, in, "A Lifting Up for the Downcast"]

Mon., 5/20/19 Devotion (Ps. 73:16-17)

Today's encouragement comes from Psalm 73:16 & 17, where Asaph, the human author, was dealing with, and finally received resolution to the thorny issue of the prosperity of the wicked, (see vv. 2-3 ff.). . . .

"When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me—until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end."

On our own, individually, we are simply *unable* to grasp a whole lot of things that are necessary for our happiness and well-being. This is no accident. God intentionally designed us to be insufficient and incomplete in and of our-selves. This is why He puts His saints into the body of Christ, His holy church. When Asaph came into the communion of his fellow-believers—all of a sud-den the darkness was dispersed, and his understanding was enlightened.

It is the height of pride and foolishness, to believe we do not need Jesus or His church. Let us enter the Lord's sanctuary on Sundays, and get in Christ all that we need for all of life.

[Puritan quote of the day: "Mercy is not for them that sin and fear not, but for them that fear and sin not. God's mercy is a holy mercy; where it pardons it heals.” —Thomas Watson, in, "A Body of Divinity"]

Fri.-Sabbath, 5/17-19/19 Devotion

Praise the Lord—it is almost Sunday! In order to help get us ready for church, here is Thomas Watson, from his, "The Ten Commandments" book:

"Each Sabbath may be the last we shall ever keep. We may go from the place of hearing to the place of judging—and shall not we give reverend at-tention to the word? Did we think when we come into God's house 'Perhaps this will be the last time that ever God will counsel us about our souls'; and before another sermon death's alarm will sound in our ears; with what atten-tion and devotion should we feel, and our affections would be all on fire in hearing!

"You must give an account for every sermon you hear. 'Give an account of your stewardship,' (Lk. 16:2). So will God say, 'Give an account of your hear-ing. Have you been affected with the word? Have you profited by it?' How can we give a good account, if we have been distracted in hearing, and have not taken notice of what has been said to us? The judge to whom we must give an account is God. "

Thurs., 5/16/19 Devotion (1 Pet. 3:8)

Today's encouragement comes from 1 Peter 3:8, where we read these words:

"Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous . . . "

Sometimes, in the midst of all the struggle and spiritual warfare that is going on in us, and amongst us, we tend to forget some of the most basic tenets of our most holy faith. Peter is telling the church here to remember to love one another.

All of us—even the most mature amongst us—are weak in many ways, and are given to all kinds of sins, failings, and annoyances. God would have us be gracious and patient with one another. After all: the Lord has treated us with *ultimate* kindness in Christ, even though we deserve none of it. Let us show those in His church forbearance and gentleness.

[Puritan quote of the day: "Let us pray that God will preserve pure ordinances and powerful preaching among us. Idolatry came in at first by the lack of good preaching.” —Thomas Watson, in, "The Ten Commandments"]

Wed., 5/15/19 Devotion (Ps. 66:12b)

Today's encouragement comes from Psalm 66:12b, where we read these words:

"We went through fire and through water; but You brought us out to rich ful-fillment."

Only those who persevere in Jesus and His church through the trials of life get the benefit of "rich fulfillment" at the end of them (the troubles). This prin-ciple is true at both the micro- and macro-levels of life. When testings and temptations are endured (in Christ), they give way to rest and satisfaction lat-er. After the devil left Jesus, angels came and ministered to Him (in Matt. 4:11).

The spoils of Christ's victory for His church do *not* go to "prima donna" spirits. Instead, they are the sole possession of those brave hearts that are willing, by grace, to take on the flesh, the world, and the devil—and defeat them (through their sincere God-given faith in The Redeemer).

[Puritan quote of the day: "Compare sin with hell, and you shall see that sin is worse.” —Thomas Watson, in, "The Doctrine of Repentance"]

Tues., 5/14/19 Devotion (Num. 21:4b-5a)

Today's encouragement comes from Numbers 21:4b & 5a, where we read these words:

" . . . and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses . . . "

The natural reaction of people walking in the flesh (and not The Spirit) is to lash out at God and His ministers—especially when they (the grumblers) are really discouraged or downhearted. This inevitably happens—even among professing Christians—when faith in Christ (and its resultant humility and re-pentance) is not being exercised. Sometimes we are very sophisticated in our "speaking against God"; and instead of it taking overt forms of expression, it is the attitude and verbiage of our hearts.

Let all the faithful church be careful to ascribe blame to ourselves and other sinners alone; and always to believe and assert (in earnest) the absolute righteousness and perfection of God in our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Father may send troubles our way—but instead of grumbling about them, let us seek to grow by and through them.

[Puritan quote of the day: "A heartless, drooping, and discouraging life and walk is very unbecoming the gospel of Christ.” —James Durham, in, "The Un-searchable Riches of Christ"]

Mon., 5/13/19 Devotion (Ps. 59:8)

Today's encouragement comes from Psalm 59:8, where we read these words:

"But You, O LORD, shall laugh at them; You shall have all the nations in de-rision."

God's "belly-laughs" are not always brought on by some silly (or funny) things His creatures do (perhaps, even innocently). In the verse above, the Lord is hooting over the foolishness and stupidity of His sworn enemies, who think they can take Him on and overcome the Creator (who made them).

In reality, life is no "laughing matter"; and God calls on His whole world to worship Him (alone)—through Christ. The reality is, however, that only the faithful church actually practices this (proper worship)—through Christ. Those who love Jesus will be vilified by those who hate Him. But the same Lord who "laughs" at the wicked also blesses His true children.

[Puritan quote of the day: "What peace or comfort had Judas in the sight of his thirty pieces of silver?” —William Bridge, in, "A Lifting Up for the Down-cast"]

Fri.-Sabbath, 5/10-12/19 Devotion

Yes—it is almost Sunday! In order to help us get ready for church, here is Thomas Watson, from his book, "The Ten Commandments":

"The grand reason for changing the Jewish Sabbath to the Lord's Day is that it puts us in mind of the 'Mystery of our redemption by Christ.' The reason why God instituted the old Sabbath was to be a memorial of the creation; but He has now brought the first day of the week in its room in memory of a more glorious work than creation, which is redemption. Great was the work of cre-ation, but greater was the work of redemption. As it was said, 'The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former,' (Hag. 2:9). So the glory of the redemption was greater than the glory of the creation.

"Great wisdom was seen in making us, but more miraculous wisdom in sav-ing us. Great power was seen in bringing us out of nothing, but greater power in helping us when we were worse than nothing. It cost more to redeem than to create us. In creation it was but speaking a word (Psa. 148:5); in redeem-ing there was shedding of blood (1 Pet. 1:19). Creation was the work of God's fingers, (Psa. 8:3), redemption was the work of His arm, (Luke 1:51). In cre-ation, God gave us ourselves; in the redemption, He gave us Himself. By creation, we have life in Adam; by redemption, we have life in Christ, (Col. 3:3). By creation, we had a right to an earthly paradise: by redemption, we have a title to a heavenly kingdom. Christ might well change the seventh day of the week into the first, as it puts us in mind of our redemption, which is a more glorious work than creation."

Thurs., 5/9/19 Devotion (Ps. 55:16)

Today's encouragement comes from Psalm 55:16, where we read these words:

"As for me, I will call upon God, and the LORD shall save me."

David makes a personal assertion here. No matter what other people choose to do with their hardships—he, at least, will bring his to the Lord. David be-lieved that simply "calling upon God" would be enough to secure His help. This is why he wrote, "The Lord shall save me."

May all God's regenerated Christian churchmen call upon Him, in trouble or in pleasure. Let us recognize that the Lord is good; and that He alone is able to meet all of our needs in and through our Lord Jesus—be our situations pro-found or mundane.

[Puritan quote of the day: "Those who would annihilate the ministry try to pull the stars out of Christ's hand.” —Thomas Watson, in his sermon, "God's Ana-tomy upon Man's Heart"]

Wed., 5/8/19 Devotion (Heb. 13:20-21)

Today's encouragement comes from Hebrews 13:20 & 21, which says this:

"Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting cove-nant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."

What a great benedictory prayer this is (above). Let us note how God puts a *comprehensive* blessing on His church. The Lord does not cut us short in anything with regard to His Son's resurrection. Instead, we get ALL of those benefits *now*, as we grow into our understanding of them, day by day.

Let us recognize this: that no matter what the faithful members of the true church struggle with down here, there is NOTHING so powerful, that our par-ticipation in Jesus and His resurrection cannot conquer it.

[Puritan quote of the day: "The mercies of God have a melting influence upon the soul; they dissolve it in love to God. God's judgments make us fear Him, His mercies make us love Him.” —Thomas Watson, in, "All Things for Good"]

Tues., 5/7/19 Devotion (Heb. 12:1b-2a)

Today's encouragement comes from Hebrews 12:1b & 2a, where we read these helpful words:

" . . . and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith . . . "

Here is good counsel for the church today. Let us remember that we are in a spiritual foot race (which is more or less a covenantal "marathon"). We have only one goal. That goal is Jesus Himself. Through our provisional “reaching” of our goal (of Christ) we in the faithful church become more and more like our Savior everyday. By faith, let us set our eyes on our Redeemer. Let us not worry too much about anything else.

All the distractions will take care of themselves, so long as we keep Christ before us. We will have the world’s and our flesh’s "wind resistance," fatigue, and lack of breath—but the race is still completely worth it.

[Puritan quote of the day: "The heart is that which the devil strives hardest for. Never did he so strive for the body of Moses as he does for the heart of man. In religion the heart is all.” —Thomas Watson, in, "The Doctrine of Repent-ance"]

Mon., 5/6/19 Devotion (Heb. 11:6)

Today's encouragement comes from Hebrews 11:6, where we read these great words:

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him [God], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."

This verse (above) is so supremely-important. The Lord delights to behold our faith in Jesus over anything and everything else.  Why?  Because it leads to love for Him, (and this issues forth in Spirit-filled and happy compliance to Him). Many religious people think too little of faith. They are convinced that if they do extraordinary spiritual things, God will somehow be moved to be im-pressed by them.

But God is only pleased with us as we exercise faith in Christ. The next time we face any problem, let us say, "Lord, I am going to trust You through this struggle." If we are faith-filled churchmen, the Lord is delighted with us, be-cause He is perfectly satisfied with His Son—the One who is our entire right-eousness and justification.

[Puritan quote of the day: "The law is but a dead letter in comparison to the word of the gospel. If you come merely to the law to hear the law preached, and not in a [gospel] way, you may hear it a hundred times and it will never be written in your hearts.” —Jeremiah Burroughs, in, "Gospel Worship"]

Fri.-Sabbath, 5/3-5/19 Devotion

Praise God—Sunday is almost here! So as to help get us ready for the Sab-bath Day, here are good words from the great Thomas Watson, taken from his book, "All Things for Good":

"The mercies of God quicken [make alive]. As they are loadstones [magnets] to love, so they are whetstones [sharpening stones] to obedience. 'I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living,' (Psalm 116:9). He that takes a review of his blessings, looks upon himself as a person engaged for God. He argues from the sweetness of mercy to the swiftness of duty. He spends and is spent for Christ; he dedicates himself to God. Among the Romans, when one had redeemed another, he was afterwards to serve him. A soul encompassed with mercy is zealously active in God’s service.

"The mercies of God work compassion to others. A Christian is a temporal savior. He feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, and visits the widow and or-phan in their distress; among them he sows the golden seeds of his charity. 'A good man shows favor, and lends,' (Psalm 112:5). Charity drops from him freely, as myrrh from the tree. Thus to the godly, the mercies of God work for good; they are wings to lift them up to heaven."

Thurs., 5/2/19 Devotion (Num. 9:1a)

Today's encouragement comes from Numbers 9:1a, where we read these words:

"Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai . . . "

This little phrase (above) reminds us that God does not desert His church at anytime—not even when we feel like we are in the "wilderness." Even then and there the Lord "speaks" to His people. We might be inclined to "expect" God to converse with us when all is well, and we are settled into our faith, our church, and our sense of security very snugly. But do we think the same of Him when all seems dark, aimless, and unfeeling?

Let true Christians be assured of Christ's love for us—even when we feel like we are wandering around in "the wilderness." Even there, God has ordained a ministry to feed us Christ; and He has not abandoned us. For this mercy, let us all be thankful.

[Puritan quote of the day: "Get contentment into the sling of your heart, and with this sacred stone you may both defy the world and conquer it.” —Thom-as Watson, in, "The Art of Divine Contentment"]

Wed., 5/1/19 Devotion (Heb. 6:15)

Today's encouragement comes from Hebrews 6:15, where we read these great words:

"And so, after he [Abraham] had patiently endured, he obtained the promise."

The most important practical fruit of sincere and saving faith in Jesus, in this world, is perseverance. Without endurance to the end, nothing else matters. It is not easy to stretch-out all the way to the finish line, and to conclude the race well. But, if we are to please God, and be satisfied in our souls, we must do this (through Christ alone).

So, are we having problems in any aspect of our lives whatsoever? If so, then, let us join our spiritual father (Abraham), and—like him—make it all the way to the finish line. (If we do, we get to enjoy the promises in Christ: in this life, and in the one to come.)

[Puritan quote of the day: "If civility were sufficient to salvation, Christ need not have died.” —Thomas Watson, in, "The Doctrine of Repentance"]