Morning, March 15 Go To Evening Reading
“Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
—2 Timothy 2:1
Christ has grace without measure in himself, but he hath not retained it for himself. As the reservoir empties itself into the pipes, so hath Christ emptied out his grace for his people. “Of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.” He seems only to have to dispense to us. He stands like the fountain, constantly flowing, but only running to supply the empty pitchers and the thirsty lips which draw nigh unto it. Like a tree, he bears sweet fruit, not to hang on boughs but to be gathered by those who need it. Grace, whether its work is to pardon, to cleanse, to preserve, to strengthen, to enlighten, to quicken, or to restore, is ever to be had from him freely and without price; nor is there one form of the work of grace which he has not bestowed upon his people. Though flowing from the heart, the blood of the body belongs equally to every member, so the influences of grace are the inheritance of every saint united to the Lamb; herein, there is a sweet communion between Christ and his Church since they both receive the same grace. Christ is the head upon which the oil is first poured, but the same oil runs to the very skirts of the garments so that the meanest saint has an unction of the same costly moisture as that which fell upon the head. This is true communion when the sap of grace flows from the stem to the branch and when it is perceived that the stem is sustained by the nourishment that feeds the unit. As we receive grace from Jesus daily and more constantly recognize it as coming from him, we shall behold him in communion with us and enjoy the felicity of communion with him. Let us make daily use of our riches and ever repair to him as to our Lord in covenant, taking from him the supply of all we need with as much boldness as men take money from their own purses.
Go To Morning Reading Evening, March 15
“He did it with all his heart and prospered.”
—2 Chronicles 31:21
This is no unusual occurrence; the general rule of the moral universe is that those men prosper who do their work with all their hearts, while those who are almost certain to fail to go to their labor, leaving half their hearts behind them. God does not give harvests to idle men except harvests of thistles, nor is he pleased to send wealth to those who will not dig in the field to find its hid treasure. It is universally confessed that if a man would prosper, he must be diligent in business. It is the same in religion as it is in other things. If you would thrive in your work for Jesus, let it be heart work, and let it be done with all your heart. Put as much force, energy, heartiness, and earnestness into religion as ever you do into business, for it deserves far more. The Holy Spirit helps our infirmities but does not encourage our idleness; he loves active believers. Who are the most valuable men in the Christian church? The men who do what they undertake for God with all their hearts. Who are the most successful Sabbath school teachers? The most talented? No; the most zealous; the men whose hearts are on fire, the men who see their Lord riding forth prosperously in the majesty of his salvation.
Whole-heartedness shows itself in perseverance; there may be a failure at first, but the earnest worker will say, “It is the Lord’s work, and it must be done; my Lord has bidden me do it, and in his strength, I will accomplish it.” Christian, art thou thus “with all thine heart” serving thy Master? Remember the earnestness of Jesus! Think what heart-work was his! He could say, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.” When he sweats significant drops of blood, it was no light burden he had to carry upon those blessed shoulders; when he poured out his heart, it was no weak effort he was making for the salvation of his people. Was Jesus in earnest, and were we lukewarm?
Spurgeon, C. H. Morning and Evening: Daily Readings. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896. Print.
March 15: The Power Struggle
Numbers 16:1–50; John 21:1–25; Psalm 17:1–15
Every leader faces power struggles—from those who follow the leader and those the leader follows. If there isn’t some sort of struggle, the leader probably isn’t doing his or her job well. It’s simple: those who make everyone happy probably aren’t pushing people to improve, and moving will sometimes frustrate both the leaders and the followers.
Moses regularly experienced leadership struggles. In Numbers 16, Korah—accompanied by 250 men who were leaders in Israel—calls Moses and Aaron’s leadership into question, saying, “You take too much upon yourselves! All of the community is holy, every one of them, and Yahweh is in their midst, so why do you raise yourselves over the assembly of Yahweh?” (Num 16:3). They’re using Moses’ words, spoken on behalf of Yahweh, against him here: “you will belong to me as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exod 19:6). But they made one faulty assumption in doing so. Yahweh had prefaced these words by saying, “if you will carefully listen to my voice and keep my covenant, you will be a treasured possession for me out of all the peoples, for all the earth is mine, but …” and then He continued with the line Korah quoted (Exod 19:5–6).
Surely Moses knows this, and he is well aware of their folly. But rather than answering the fool according to his folly, he responds by prostrating himself—an act of worship toward God and humility toward those he serves: the people of Israel. He insists on bringing the matter before God Himself. He then says, “Tomorrow morning Yahweh will make known who is his and who is holy, and he will bring him near to him, whomever he chooses he will bring near to him” (Num 16:5). It appears that in that moment of prostration, Moses prayed and was immediately given an answer.
Moses could have defended himself by insisting upon the unique nature by which God had revealed Himself to him. Or he could have noted to Korah that he is only out of Egypt—and thus able to call Moses into question—because Moses was obedient to God. He even could have noted that Korah was only in leadership because Moses listened to God and appointed him. But instead, he insisted on bringing it before God. He did, though, follow up by telling Korah that he had plenty of authority and shouldn’t be so greedy (Num 16:8–11).
This event demonstrates the kind of faith that we should all have in what God asks us to do.
How do you respond when people question what God has asked you to do? How can your response in the future be more like Moses’?
John D. Barr
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 15th
The discipline of dismay
And as they followed, they were afraid. Mark 10:32.
In the beginning, we were sure we knew all about Jesus Christ; it was a delight to sell all and to fling ourselves out in a hardihood of love, but now we are not quite so sure. Jesus is in front, and He looks strange. “Jesus went before them: and they were amazed.”
There is an aspect of Jesus that chills the heart of a disciple to the core and makes the whole spiritual life gasp for breath. This strange Being with His face set like a flint, and His striding determination strikes terror into me. He is no longer Counsellor and Comrade; he is taken up with a point of view I know nothing about, and I am amazed at Him. At first, I was confident that I understood Him, but now I am still determining. I realize there is a distance between Jesus Christ and me; I can no longer be familiar with Him. He is ahead of me and never turns round; I have no idea where He is going, and the goal has become strangely far off.
Jesus Christ had to fathom every sin and every sorrow man could experience, which makes Him seem strange. When we see Him in this aspect, we do not know Him, we do not recognize one feature of his life, and we do not know how to begin to follow Him. He is in front, an extraordinary Leader, and we have no comradeship with Him.
The discipline of dismay is an essential necessity in the life of discipleship. When the darkness of grief comes, endure until it is over because out of it will reach that following of Jesus which is an unspeakable joy. The danger is to get back to a bit of fire of our own and kindle enthusiasm at it (cf. Isaiah 50:10–11 ).
Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year. Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986. Print.
March 15
I sought him, but I found him not
Song of Sol. 3:1
Tell me where you lost the company of Christ, and I will tell you the most likely place to find Him. Have you lost Christ in the closet by restraining prayer? Then it is there you must seek and find Him. Did you lose Christ by sin? You will find Him in no other way than by giving up the corruption and seeking the Holy Spirit to mortify the member in which the lust dwells. Did you lose Christ by neglecting the Scriptures? You must find Him in the Scriptures. It is a true proverb, “Look for a thing where you dropped it; it is there.” So look for Christ where you lost Him, for He has not gone away.
Spurgeon
Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour. Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.
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