Morning, March 14 Go To Evening Reading
“Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he falls.”
—1 Corinthians 10:12
It is curious that there is such a thing as being proud of grace. A man says, “I have great faith; I shall not fall; poor little faith may, but I never shall.” “I have fervent love,” says another, “I can stand; there is no danger of my going astray.” He who boasts of grace has little grace to boast of. Some who do this imagine that their graces can keep them, knowing not that the stream must constantly flow from the fountain head, or else the brook will soon be dry. If a continuous stream of oil comes not to the lamp, though it burns brightly today, it will smoke tomorrow, and noxious will be its scent. Take heed that thou glory not in thy graces, but let all thy glorying and confidence be in Christ and his strength, for only, so canst thou is kept from falling. Be much more in prayer. Spend longer time in holy adoration. Read the Scriptures more earnestly and constantly. Watch your lives more carefully. Live nearer to God. Take the best examples for your pattern. Let your conversation be redolent of heaven. Let your hearts be perfumed with affection for men’s souls. So live that men may take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus, and have learned of him; and when that happy day shall come, when he whom you love shall say, “Come up higher,” may it be your happiness to hear him say, “Thou hast fought a good fight, thou hast finished thy course, and henceforth there is laid up for thee a crown of righteousness which fadeth not away.” On, Christian, with care and caution! On, with holy fear and trembling! On, with faith and confidence in Jesus alone, and let your constant petition be, “Uphold me according to thy word.” He is able, and he alone, “To keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.”
Go To Morning Reading Evening, March 14
“I will take heed to my ways.”
—Psalm 39:1
Fellow pilgrim, say not in your heart, “I will go hither and thither, and I shall not sin,” for you are never so out of danger of sinning as to boast of security. The road is very miry, it will be hard to pick your path so as not to soil your garments. This is a world of pitch; you must often watch to keep your hands clean in handling it. There is a robber at every turn of the road to rob you of your jewels; there is a temptation in every mercy; there is a snare in every joy; and if you ever reach heaven, it will be a miracle of divine grace to be ascribed entirely to your Father’s power. Be on your guard. When a man carries a bombshell in his hand, he should remember that he does not go near a candle; and you, too, must take care that you do not enter into temptation. Even your everyday actions are edged tools; you must mind how you handle them. There is nothing in this world to foster a Christian’s piety but everything to destroy it. How anxious should you be to look up to God, that he may keep you! Your prayer should be, “Hold me up, and I shall be safe.” Having prayed, you must watch, guarding every thought, word, and action with holy jealousy. Do not expose yourselves unnecessarily; but if called to exposure, if you are bidden to go where the darts are flying, never venture forth without your shield; for if once the devil finds you without your buckler, he will rejoice that his hour of triumph is come, and will soon make you fall down wounded by his arrows. Though slain, you cannot be; hurt you may be. “Be sober; be vigilant; danger may be in an hour when all seemeth securest to thee.” Therefore, take heed to thy ways, and watch unto prayer. No man ever fell into error through being too watchful. May the Holy Spirit guide us in all our ways, so shall they always please the Lord.
Spurgeon, C. H. Morning and Evening: Daily Readings. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896. Print.
March 14: A Psalm of Confidence
Numbers 15:1–41; John 20:1–31; Psalm 16:1–11
“You are my Lord,” the psalmist acknowledges. “I have no good apart from you” (Psa 16:2).
The psalmist says that anyone who desires anything other than God will only increase in sorrow (Psa 16:4). We know God is everything we need, but the details still get in the way. We want to alleviate our troubles through other means—that vacation, the position that will bring recognition or the spouse who will complete us.
It seems radical and challenging to live out the psalmist’s simple confession. The ancient practice of idol worship is alive and well in our modern culture and hearts. (Just look at the magazine rack or tv shows if you think I’m wrong: what is worshiped there?) We are like the Israelites—unfaithful and prone to “hurry after another god” (Psa 16:4).
For the psalmist, however, “Yahweh is the portion which is my share and my cup” (Psa 16:5). He is all the psalmist ever needs: “I have set Yahweh before me always. Because he is at my right hand I will not be shaken” (Psa 16:8). God brings the psalmist hope, and He can do the same for us. We just need to turn to Him.
Today, pray the words of Psalm 16: “You are my Lord. I have no good apart from you.” How can we remind ourselves that He is all we will ever need?
Rebecca Van Noord
Barry, John D., and Rebecca Kruyswijk. Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan. Print. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012.
March 14th
Obedience
His servants ye are to whom ye obey. Romans 6:16.
The first thing to do in examining the power that dominates me is to take hold of the unwelcome fact that I am responsible for being thus dominated because I have yielded. If I am a slave to myself, I am to blame for it because, at a point away back, I surrendered myself to myself. Likewise, if I obey God, I do so because I have lost myself to Him.
Yield in childhood to selfishness, and you will find it the most enchaining tyranny on earth. Yield for one second to anything like lust (remember what lust is: ‘I must have it at once,’ whether it be the lust of the flesh or the lust of the mind), once yield, and though you may hate yourself for having yielded, you are a bond-slave to that thing. There is no power in the human soul of itself to break the bondage of a disposition formed by yielding. There is no release in human management, but only in Redemption. You must lose yourself in utter humiliation to the only One Who can break the dominating force, the Lord Jesus Christ. “He hath anointed Me … to preach deliverance to the captives.”
We find this out in the tiniest ways—‘Oh, I can give that habit up when I like.’ You cannot; you will find that the habit absolutely dominates you because you yielded to it willingly. Surrendering to Jesus will break every form of slavery in any human life. It is easy to sing—“He will break every fetter” and simultaneously live a life of prominent slavery to yourself.
Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year. Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986. Print.
March 14
He that eateth me, even he shall live by me
John 6:57
To feed on Christ is to get His strength into us to be our strength. You provide on the cornfield, and the power of the cornfield comes into you and is your strength. You feed on Christ and then go and live your life; Christ in you lives your life, helps the poor, tells the truth, fights battles, and wins the crown.
Phillips Brooks
Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour. Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.
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