Charles Spurgeon

CONFESSION

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ME, IMPUDENT AND HARDHEARTED?

screen-shot-2016-10-14-at-3-59-19-pm“It is not the Devil who switches folk off Christ’s way, but the ordinary steep difficulties of daily life, difficulties connected with food and clothing and situations….the little worries of life have…enfeebled our spirits, and made us sorry and humiliated before Him, even more so than the times when we have been tempted to sin” Oswald Chambers (ref#118, p96).

FATHER, You call Israel, “impudent and hardhearted” (Ezek 3:7), and I agree. Seems Scripture testifies they never got it right. But, You say, “No one is right” (Rom 3:11). Help me find my “not-rightness.”

SPIRIT CHECK: Impudent. Do I have “an arrogant spirit?” Do I lack “holy shame or an unhallowed boldness in evil?” Can I be un-humbled with no inward humiliation? Have I ever pretended to pray or pretended to praise (ref#34, April 28th PM)?

SPIRIT CHECK: Hardhearted. Even though I have a new heart, does much of my former stubbornness remain? How affected am I by the death of JESUS? Am I moved as much as I should be by the ruin of my fellowmen? Do I care about “the wickedness of the times?” Does it move me that You, FATHER, are chastised by unprincipled men? Do I regard my failures as trivial (ref#34, April 28th PM)?

Oh FATHER, I still live in this hateful body of death, though You have changed me to desire to live for You. I bless You now that Your Son’s precious blood will effectively soften me. His blood is a solvent that will melt my heart like “wax before the fire”Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, April 28th PM). You again will do wonderful things for me (Isa 29:14). “Oh that my heart would melt at the recital of my Savior’s sufferings and death” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, April 28th PM)!

THANKSGIVING

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THANKS FOR ASSURANCES

screen-shot-2016-10-14-at-2-52-30-pm…FATHER, You have created an entire book describing the specific ways You approach Your lover (Song of Songs). You do everything but stand on Your head to get my attention. A devotional could not hold all the words of assurance You write attempting to prove Your love toward me. But, let me name a few that it may jog my memory and cause me to thank You for Your love that is as strong as death (Song 8:6).

Your love never wanes. When I am happy with myself or when I am disappointed with my actions, it doesn’t affect our relationship for You continually accept me. When I look within I exclaim there is nothing acceptable there but You look at me through CHRIST where everything is acceptable. I am Your “divine delight” (Eph 1:6) Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Sept 23rd AM).

When my poor faith concludes I am a “baby Christian,” You assure me that I have just as much right to covenant mercies as advanced believers. I am completely justified—my justification is not a thing of degrees.

“…your right to covenant mercies lies not in your growth, but in the covenant itself. Your faith in Jesus is not the measure, but the token of your inheritance in Him” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Oct 19th AM).

FATHER, I did not choose You, You chose me (John 15:16). True, I did commit to You but You had my name written in Your book of life before You formed the world.

You have drawn me and will continue in Your faithfulness toward me. Your love is an everlasting love (Jer 31:3). You commit to me forever providing justice, fairness, love and kindness. You will be forever faithful to me no matter what I do (Hos 2:19-20)!

I thank You for all Your assurances You add to Scripture. Even if I am the weakest Christian, in JESUS I am Your child (Gal 4:7).

CONFESSION

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THE BLOOD

Screen Shot 2016-08-24 at 3.38.29 PMThe blood of the Lamb cleanses me from sin—not just the first time I come to Him. It is not a once-and-for-all cleansing but the blood of CHRIST continues to flow—continues to cleanse. It saves me all the days of my life.

It is satan’s ploy to draw me to CHRIST for initial repentance and then drive me out in the wilderness so that I use my natural resources to fight sin going forward. Surely the Galatians thought as I, “CHRIST has saved me, now I have to get my act together.” The Apostle Paul accuses them: “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh” (Gal 3:3 ESV)?

“You may struggle against evil as long as you please, but…you will never be delivered from it in any way but by the blood of Jesus.…Your prayers, your repentance, and your tears—the whole of them put together—are worth nothing apart from Him” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, April 23rd AM).

“In all failures in duty…remembering the innumerable tracers of imperfection and sin found upon all you do, deal frequently, closely, with the atoning blood. ‘Wash and be clean’ (2 Kings 5:13)”  Octavius Winslow (ref#61, July 18th). FATHER, remind me to always come.

“If you have ever come to the blood…you will feel your need of coming to it every day. He who does not desire to wash in it every day has never washed in it at all….there is still a fountain opened….Christ alone can give us joy and comfort….let us sprinkle our doorposts fresh with blood, and then, feast on the Lamb, assured that the destroying angel must pass us by” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, April 17th AM).

ADORATION

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CHRIST’S BLOOD IS PRECIOUS

“…many achievements and…many blessings…Scripture ascribes to the power of the Blood of the Lord Jesus” Roy Hession (ref#97, p91-92)!

Screen Shot 2016-08-24 at 3.31.10 PMFATHER, CHRIST’s blood is “precious in its preserving power….the blood…is the true reason for our being spared” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, April 16th AM). “By its power there is forgiveness of sins and eternal life for all who put their faith in the Lord Jesus ( John 6:54)” Roy Hession (ref#97, p92).

FATHER, “Christ’s blood is also precious in its cleansing power” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, April 16th AM). By the power of the blood there is a continual cleansing from all my sin, past, present, and future (ref#97, p92). Your Son’s blood not only cleanses me from all sin (1 John 1:7), but purifies my conscience so I may serve You (Heb 9:14).

“The blood of Christ is precious in its sanctifying influence. The same blood that justifies by taking away sin, in its after-action, quickens the new nature and leads it onward to subdue sin and to carry out the commands of God”  Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, April 16th AM).

THANKSGIVING

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THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

“My beloved is mine, and I am his;…” (Song 2:16 ESV).

Screen Shot 2016-08-24 at 2.59.56 PMFATHER, CHRIST is mine, “I possess him, I have interest in him, as my head and my husband; and I am his, possessed of him, owned by him, given up unto him: and that as to my Beloved in a conjugal relation”  John Owen (ref#35, p153). CHRIST and I are far from equal—Him no sin, me sin—but I am part of His bride, the church, and will attend the “marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev 19:9).

CHRIST and I stand facing each other in mutual resignation. He takes me to be His, to love and care for me; I take Him to be mine giving myself up to be His in obedience (ref#35, p155).

He says, “…I know by experience those that are mine, and those that are mine know me by experience, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father” Kenneth S. Wuest (ref#37, p238, [John 10:14-15]). And CHRIST, if I love You, then I am known by You (1 Cor 8:3).

CHRIST, You make rich provision for my needs, You pay all my debts and I can share in Your wealth and You even allow me to assume Your name (ref#34, July 22nd AM). My sin is covered by my Bridegroom. His puts on me His very own comeliness which makes me beautiful—even perfect (ref#35, p156).

And, on my part it is to consent to accept all He gives—to “receive, embrace, and submit unto the Lord Jesus, as…husband, Lord, and Savior—to abide with him…and be ruled by him forever” John Owen (ref#35, p157).

FATHER, I thank You that You have made me prefer CHRIST counting everything else as dung compared to Him. Thank You for my heart change so I am willing to give myself up to Him. I desire He see my face and hear my voice and count it as sweet and lovely (Song 2:14).

“He is…your Husband, never seeking a divorce; your Friend, sticking closer than a brother; your Shepherd, with you in death’s dark vale. He is your help and your deliverer; your castle and your high tower; the horn of your strength, your confidence, your joy, your all in all…” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, April 19th PM).

SUPPLICATION

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PROVISIONS

[We all know someone who is dealing with financial problems. Here is an opportunity to pray for them. Fill their name in the blanks.]

PROBLEM WITH WEALTH

Screen Shot 2016-08-24 at 1.11.33 PM…FATHER, I pray that ____ not be asking for abundance. For (he/she) will not be able to be rendering a slave’s obedience to You and, at the same time, possess a passion for accumulating wealth (ref#37, p14, [Matt 6:24]).

Move ____ to realize (he/she) cannot eat or drink or wear more than a day’s supply and that any surplus left over from the day (he/she) will have the care of storing and watching against theft (ref#34, Feb 14th AM).

Aid ____, LORD, to understand the problem with wealth, as well as the benefit of poverty. JESUS lived with voluntary poverty for it disconnected Him with everything that chains people down to this world. Because of it He was able to go wherever His FATHER wanted Him to go (ref#8, Nov 6th).

CONFESSION

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FELLOWSHIP, NOT KNOWLEDGE

Screen Shot 2016-07-19 at 4.16.11 PM…FATHER, sin is idolatrous when my heart desires something other than You (ref#5, p66). “This is what sin is—dishonoring God by preferring other things over him, and acting on those preferences” John Piper (ref#93, p12). It is too easy for my life to be “shaped by the satisfaction of cravings, rather than heartfelt commitment and faithfulness” Paul David Tripp (ref#5, p67).

“Let me not strive to understand the infinite, but rather spend my strength in love. What I cannot gain by intellect, I can possess by affection…put far from me any love for the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil that would keep me from the Tree of Life” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Sept 5th PM).

Without the influence of the SPIRIT, I am satisfied with something other than a close relationship with You. Simply collecting facts about You can suffice conscience. FATHER, don’t permit me to know You only on the level of being amazed with Your attributes. Let it be no more amazing myself with You but You amazing me.

ADORATION

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ADORATION

Screen Shot 2016-07-19 at 4.06.41 PMAdore – to worship, honor highly, love greatly, revere, idolize, respect, prize, treasure, esteem, love to distraction, cherish, admire—these words I read and store in my mind, they all reflect my attitude toward You, FATHER. Morph my thoughts of Your divine perfection into experience that I may actually fellowship with You.

“O LORD,

Help me to approach thee…

Thou inhabitest eternity,

and my life is nothing before thee;

 

Thou dwellest in the highest heaven

and this cannot contain thee;…

Thy power is almighty;…

Thy understanding is infinite;…” The Valley of Vision (ref#76, p84).

FATHER, “interpret Thyself to me…” Oswald Chambers (ref#27, p66). I want to experience You, not concentrate on finding a method to meet You (ref#103, p34).  “Adoration is not seeking the divine presence, but is conscious of it to an unutterable degree, and therefore full of awe and peace…” Charles Spurgeon (ref#104, Day 10). The stars lose themselves in Your glory not making a sound (Ps 19:3). “Be silent, for that is the Absolute” Soren Kierkegaard (ref#137, page xi).

“It [adoration] is the eloquent silence of a soul that is too full for language. To prostrate yourself in the dust in humility, and yet to soar aloft in sublime thought; to sink into nothing, and yet to be so enlarged as to be filled with all the fullness of God; to have no thought and yet to be all thought; to lose yourself in God; this is adoration” Charles Spurgeon (ref#104, Day 10) (brackets mine).

FATHER, manifest Yourself to me (John 14:21). I want the experience of You “happening” to me instead of me just reflecting good thoughts of You and calling it adoration A.W. Tozer (ref#103, p34).

SUPPLICATION

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SICKNESS – LIFE THREATENING

 

TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS

Screen Shot 2016-07-19 at 11.41.02 AM“…do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor 4:18 NKJV).

FATHER, I pray for ____. Since much of the hope for help in the physical world is exhausted, I plead You come to (his/her) assistance.

Give (him/her) trust enough to see Your Son as He is—(his/her) beloved Physician. As ____ trusted (his/her) earthly doctors by handing the pharmacist an unreadable prescription, favor (him/her) to rely on (his/her) heavenly Physician. For it is ____’s business to trust and JESUS’ business to prescribe (ref#34, Aug 14th PM).

Cause ____ to have no desire “to analyze all the medicine or evaluate all the symptoms” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Aug 14th PM). “When a believer is sick, he must place his comfort in the following truth: he may not be able to see the end result, but Jesus knows all” (ref#34, Aug 14th PM).

FATHER, let ____ “be content to know only what You choose to reveal” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Aug 14th PM). And, content (him/her) with You.

SUPPLICATION

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GENERAL TRIBULATION

[We all can think of a Christian sister or brother experiencing so much affliction they may not be able to pray for themselves. Here’s an opportunity to pray for them. Fill their name in the blanks.]

GOD’S CARE AND DAILY PROVISION

Screen Shot 2016-07-18 at 6.22.01 PM…FATHER, ____ is suffering and in (his/her) afflictions it is difficult, if not impossible, to see Your constant underlying provisions. Swing ____’s eyes off the conflict and onto Your Son. (I realize this is a supernatural request.)

“It will be well with the righteous….he is well fed; he feeds upon the flesh and blood of Jesus. He is well clothed; he wears the imputed righteousness of Christ. He is well housed; he dwells in God. He is well married; his soul is joined in the bonds of marriage union to Christ. He is well provided for; the Lord is his Shepherd. He is well endowed; heaven is his inheritance. It is well with the righteous…” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, April 14th PM).

Move ____ to believe You, FATHER, more than (his/her) eyes and feelings tell (him/her). Help (him/her) throw (his/her) entire dependence on Your goodwill. Praise You for allowing ____ the opportunity to recognize Your hourly dependence by permitting (him/her) to pray daily. Teach (him/her) to pray often so (he/she) can recognize Your constant love.

“Oh how rich is the grace that supplies us so continually and does not refrain itself because of our ingratitude” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, July 16th AM). “When we lay the soil of our hard lives open to the rain of grace and let joy penetrate our cracked and dry places, let joy soak into our broken skin and deep crevices, life grows” Ann Voskamp (ref#130, p58). FATHER, favor ____ with the ability to turn (his/her) thoughts toward You for the purpose of giving You thanks for Your provisions.