Author: Charles Spurgeon

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Most glorious Lord God, it is marvelous in our eyes that you should become incarnate, that your Son should take our flesh upon him. It surprises us greatly that the Lord of Life should condescend to die, and that the incorruptible One should be laid in the grave. We are full of loving gratitude, we are also full of adoring wonder. When we have stood at the tomb and looked into it, and thought of Jesus having laid there, when we have seen it open and knew that it was empty, we bless your name that even he died and was buried, and magnify you that he is risen again from the dead.

These great facts concerning our divine Lord are the foundation of our confidence in him. We bless you that they have been attested by such four-fold witness (the four gospels), and yet further that afterwards he appeared alive to so large a number of those who knew him, that the fact of his rising from the dead might never be questioned again.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14)

The glory of the text is that we are perfected forever—not for tomorrow and then allowed to fall from grace; not for the next twenty years and then turned out of the covenant. The blood of Christ has been sprinkled on us; and, therefore, our standing before God is the standing of perfection. And we are always perfect, always fit to come to the throne of God, whatever our doubts, whatever our sins. I do not say this of our character. We come before God in our station not in our character; and, therefore, we may come as perfect people at all times.

If you want to continue studying the book of Hebrews, check out the Consider Him Scripture memorization booklet from Cemented Co. This beautiful resource will help you study, apply, and memorize five key passages from Hebrews. Click here to learn more.*

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12 FREE books for your summer reading.*

Few things have had as monumental an impact on my Christian life and growth in godliness than reading good books. I love reading Christ-centered books, which is why I recommend one almost every day here on the newsletter. Well, today, I want to share an opportunity for you to win FREE books.

CROSS Conference is giving away a dozen books to one winner. This summer reading book bundle has some really great titles…

• Knowing God by J.I. Packer
  If you haven’t read this book, you don’t know what you’re missing! This is an incredibly helpful book to cultivate a personal knowledge of God and love for God.
  
• Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund
  This book is an absolutely stunning picture of God’s grace to us in Christ. You know that Christ died for you, but do you know why?
  I’ve been moved to tears several times while reading this book and seeing the stunningly beautiful and biblical picture of Christ’s love for his people.
  
• Identity Theft by Melissa Kruger
  A really helpful book to help you root your identity in Christ rather than your own performance, status, or job.
  
• Something Needs to Change by David Platt
  A really vulnerable book describing Platt’s journey into the Himalayas, where God opened his eyes to the reality and urgency of the unreached around the world.

These books (and more!) are going to be sent to one winner — so click here to enter now.

(And, by the way, you get extra entries for every friend you signs up using your link, so be sure to send the link out far-and-wide as well!)

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Oh, Savior, grant us a glimpse of your great love. One flash of your eye is brighter than the noonday. One word from your lips will be sweeter to us and more full of music, than the harps of angels. Grant it to every one of your children all over the world, both to the sick and to the dying. Oh how gloriously will they die!

And now Lord, we ask you to bless our country at this time, and by your great and infinite mercy preserve us, we ask you, from war. Oh, that peace may reign yet all over the world. May there be wisdom given where we fear folly, and strength given where wisdom reigns.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“The Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.’” (Luke 10:41–42)

What I can do for Christ is little. What he did for me is so amazing—so matchless, so unspeakable, so glorious—that I ought to give that the major part of my attention. I may sometimes run with Martha to do what Christ needs of me, but I think I should more frequently sit with Mary to receive from Christ what I need from him. Our religion is not of a first-class order if it is altogether looking at our practice and not at the finished and perfect work of Christ.

Martha, Martha, Christ does not stand in need of you half as much as you do of him. It is proper for you to think how you may economize time to attend the house of prayer, and how you will bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and how you will save a little money to give to the poor or to Christ’s church. All these things are right. It is well you should do them. But remember, Christ did more for you.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

God will use the Bible to make you more like Christ.*

God’s plan for your life is to grow you to be more like his Son through the power and wisdom of his written Word — the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16). If that’s the case, we need to do everything we can to expose ourselves regularly, repeatedly, and deeply to the Word of God. We should never be satisfied with a quick skim.

One resource that has been particularly helpful to me recently is the Consider Him Scripture memorization booklet from Cemented Co. This booklet includes several exercises to help you gain a more firm understanding of Scripture by studying five key passages from Hebrews.

God will do amazing things through his Word. I hope the Consider Him booklet from Cemented Co. helps you dive deeper.

Buy Consider Him from CementedCo.com.

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

As long as we live we will bless you name, our King, our God of love; for there is none like you. “Who do I have in heaven but you? And I desire nothing on earth but you” (Psalm 73:25). Our soul is clean separated from all earth’s good, and married to the Christ of God forever. By bonds that never can be snapped, we are one with him, and who shall separate us from his love?

The Lord be pleased to reveal himself to his servants. Oh, for the uplifting of the veil, for the drawing near of the people that are made glad by the blood, for the speaking of God unto the soul, and the speaking of our soul unto God. Oh, for converse with the Eternal, for such fellowship as they may have who are raised up together with Christ, and made to sit in the heavens with him.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“After he was perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him…” (Hebrews 5:9)

Did Christ need to be made perfect? Not in his nature, for he was always perfect in both his divine and his human nature. But he was willing to undergo the process that made him completely fit for the office of a Savior—that is, perfect in his obedience, perfect as a sacrifice, perfect as the mediator and substitute for his people. Being made perfect through suffering, he is able fully to discharge his office.

This is eternal salvation in the sense that it rescues us from eternal condemnation and everlasting punishment. Some say, “You may have eternal life today and lose it tomorrow.” How can life be eternal if one can lose it? A salvation that was not eternal would turn out to be no salvation at all. Those Jesus saved are saved indeed.

If you want to continue studying the book of Hebrews, check out the Consider Him Scripture memorization booklet from Cemented Co. This beautiful resource will help you study, apply, and memorize five key passages from Hebrews. Click here to learn more.*

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Memorize Scripture with beautiful songs

Over the last few months, I’ve been so thankful to follow @MelodicallyMemorizing on Instagram. Abby, the creator of this account, posts a new Scripture song every week. Her songs are really beautiful and easy to remember, which is a great strategy for memorizing more Scripture.

Check out @MelodicallyMemorizing on Instagram and follow her.

Get a prayer from Spurgeon in your inbox every day. Subscribe to the Pray with Spurgeon newsletter for free.

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Oh, Lord, we ask for ourselves strength to persevere. Some of us would ask, if it were your will, restoration to health; but your will be done. Others would ask deliverance out of trouble; again, your will be done. Some would come before you with conscious guilt, and ask for a new application of the precious blood. We had better all ask it, let us all have it.

O God, how richly you have blessed us! When we look back upon past years, what has God wrought! Shall you be without our song? Even when we are suffering, shall our voice, if it be cracked and broken, still be silent? No, if every harp-string shall be broken but one, that one shall still resound the love of Jesus, and the glory of God. Long as we live we will bless your name, our King, our God of love; for there is none like you.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves—but Jesus kept sleeping.” (Matthew 8:24)

What? A storm where Christ is? Yes, it is generally so. If all seems calm, you may question whether Christ is there, but when he goes into the boat and his disciples follow him, it is not remarkable that the devil comes after him.

Jesus slept. Here is the weakness of humanity, and here is, also, the strength of faith. Jesus went to sleep because that boat was in his Father’s hands and he would take care of it. Sometimes the best thing we can do is to go to bed. You are worrying and troubling yourself, and you can do nothing—go to sleep. It is the climax of faith to be able to shake off all care and to feel, “If the Lord cares for me, why should I not sleep?” To sleep was the best thing Jesus could do to renew his bodily energies and to prepare himself for the time when his efforts would be needed for the deliverance of his disciples from danger.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A book to help the youngest kids follow Christ

Wherever You Go, I Want You To Know is a new children’s book by Melissa Kruger. The book is really fun (with great illustrations and rhymes) with an eternal message: No matter what direction their life takes, no matter what kind of work they do, our biggest dream for our children is that they follow Christ.

I know I’ve recommended this book before, but I need to buy it again because my family has completely worn through our copy (we’ve read it so many times that it’s falling off the spine). I hope it will be a blessing to your family!

Buy Wherever You Go, I Want You To Know:

• Amazon (Hardback edition)
• ChristianBook.com (Hardback edition)

Get a prayer from Spurgeon in your inbox every day. Subscribe to the Pray with Spurgeon newsletter for free.

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Oh, to be perfect in heart towards the Lord! Our lives are faulty; we see much to grieve over; but we would have our whole heart given to your statutes; and we bless you that so it is; for our heart is in your ways, and we are willing to spend and to be spent for you. We do not want to have the slightest reservation, but lay ourselves out for your honor only, for by us and in us, Father glorify your name!

You see that we love you—may we love you more! You see that we live by the life of God—oh, life of God, live in us to the full! You see also, we fear, some that are declining from your ways, in whom grace is but a flickering light. Lord, trim the lamps; bring back the wanderers; for there is no joy but in God.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

This text involves a negative truth—there is no salvation outside of Christ—and a positive truth—there is salvation in Jesus Christ by which we must be saved. Other religions may admit that there is salvation in fifty religions besides their own, but we admit no such thing. There is no true salvation outside of Jesus Christ.

This brings us to the positive fact: there is salvation in Jesus Christ. He who hung on the cross is the one without whom nothing was created that was created (John 1:3) and by whom all things hold together (Colossians 1:17)—he is Maker, Creator, Preserver, God of providence, and God of grace. He who died for us is God over all, praised forever (Romans 9:5). As such, “he is able to save completely those who come to God through him” (Hebrews 7:25). For salvation, there is no one else, no other way, no other hope, no other ground of trust, no other refuge.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Stop settling for shallow Christian community

God does not want you to live a lonely existence. He wants you to deeply involved in the life of your local church. The local church is not an event or an organization that we attend once a week — the local church is meant to be a family.

In When the Church Was a Family: Recapturing Jesus’ Vision for Authentic Christian Community, author Joseph Hellerman describes the Bible’s stunning vision for a church that lives together as a close-knit community of brothers and sisters.

This book will leave you completely discontent with shallow Christian community and lazy church attendance. As you rediscover the incredible things that God wants to do in your life through your local church, you will be driven to love others with a deep, committed, compelling kind of love.

I read this book for the first time several years ago, and it completely changed the way I view church. I hope you’ll grab a copy today.

Buy When the Church Was a Family:

• Amazon (Paperback or Kindle editions)
• ChristianBook.com (Paperback or ebook edition)

Get a prayer from Spurgeon in your inbox every day. Subscribe to the Pray with Spurgeon newsletter for free.

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Shall we have the desire of our heart, when our heart finds all its desire in you? Oh blessed Lord, you do indeed meet them who work righteousness and rejoice in your ways. You fill your people with good things, so that their youth is renewed like the eagles’ (Psalm 103:5).

We pray, help us who know you, to glorify you. We have known you from our youth, some of us, and have we declared your wondrous works. Oh, may there never be in our heart, and above all may there never come from our lips, or in our life, anything that might dishonor you. Oh, let us die a thousand deaths, sooner than ever dishonor your hallowed name. This is dearer to us than the apple of our eye. We have loved the habitation of your house, and the place where your honor dwells. Gather not our soul with sinners, nor our lives with cruel men; but let us be helped, even to the end, to follow the Lamb wherever he goes, even if it be to Gethsemane and Calvary.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

Many men can be touched by the sorrow of another, but they are not touched with that sorrow. It is one thing to see pain but another thing to be touched with the feeling of it. Our pain, our depression, our trembling, our sensitiveness—Jesus was touched with these though he did not fall into the sin that so often comes of them. We must treasure this view of our Lord’s sympathy, for it may be a great support in the hour of agony and weakness.

If you want to continue studying the book of Hebrews, check out the Consider Him Scripture memorization booklet from Cemented Co. This beautiful resource will help you study, apply, and memorize five key passages from Hebrews. Click here to learn more.*

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Short devotions on who God is and what he is like

Theology isn’t supposed to be boring. It’s supposed to be a glorious adventure into the depths and wonders and riches of who God is and how he has worked in the world. When we think about theology, it should fill our hearts with awe and drive us to worship our great God.

The best books about theology help us along that journey — they cause us to love God more, rather than bore us or make our brains feel bigger. One book like that is Concise Theology by J.I. Packer.

Concise Theology is a collection of almost 100 short (3–4 page) explanations of crucial Christian doctrines. This book is approachable for any reader. It can be a great introduction to theology or a resource to help you teach theology to others.

When I read Concise Theology, my heart is filled with love for God and amazement at his works. I hope this book will help you worship him as well.

Buy Concise Theology:

• Amazon (Hardback/Gift, Paperback, Kindle, or audiobook editions)
• ChristianBook.com (Hardback/Gift, Paperback or ebook editions)

Get a prayer from Spurgeon in your inbox every day. Subscribe to the Pray with Spurgeon newsletter for free.

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

O God, you are our exceeding joy. The very singing of your praises lifts our heart upward: when we can join in the solemn psalm or the sacred hymn, our heart leaps within us. And when your name is glorified, when we see sinners glorifying the name of Jesus, when we look forward to the brighter days when myriads shall flock to the Crucified: above all, when we contemplate his final triumph, then is our heart very restful, and our spirit rejoices in God our Savior.

What a fountain of delight you are, and how richly have you promised to bless the men that delight themselves in God. You have said, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and he shall give you the desire of thine heart” (Psalm 37:4). Do you reward us for being delighted? Oh, pleasant duty, which is attached to such a wonderful promise.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires.” (Psalm 37:4)

Make the Lord the joy and rejoicing of your spirit. Bad men delight in carnal objects; do not envy them if they are allowed to take their fill in such vain idols; look to a better delight, and fill yourself to the full with your more sublime portion. In a certain sense imitate the wicked; they delight in their portion—take care to delight in yours, and so far from envying you will pity them.

There is no room for fretting if we remember that God is ours, but there is every incentive to sacred enjoyment of the most elevated and ecstatic kind. Every name, attribute, word, or deed of the Lord, should be delightful to us, and in meditating thereon our soul should be as glad as is the epicure who feeds delicately with a profound relish for his dainties.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Take a deep dive into the book of Hebrews*

The book of Hebrews is full of incredible treasure. This book presents a beautiful picture of Christ as an infinitely glorious divine Savior-Priest-King, sent from heaven to save a people for himself from every tribe, tongue, and nation. We could spend an entire lifetime studying Hebrews and we would never exhaust its depths.

If you want to dive deeper into the book of Hebrews to encounter the wondrous Christ it proclaims, you should check out Consider Him, a new Scripture memorization booklet from Cemented Co.

Consider Him will guide you deeper into the book of Hebrews by helping you study, understand, apply, and memorize five key passages from the book. This is an incredibly helpful resource for deepening your understanding of Scripture — I hope you’ll check it out.

Buy Consider Him from CementedCo.com.

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Get a prayer from Spurgeon in your inbox every day. Subscribe to the Pray with Spurgeon newsletter for free.

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

May we be a people who will abide by the doctrines of the gospel, come what may. May we not be ashamed to be old fashioned, and to be thought fanatical. May we not wish to be thought cultured, nor aim to keep abreast of the times. May we be side by side with you, O bleeding Savior; and be content to be rejected, be willing to take up unpopular truth, and to hold fast despised teachings of sacred writ even to the end. Oh make us faithful—faithful unto death.

And now Lord, bless our beloved church. You have been very gracious to us; be gracious to us still. Oh that we had health and strength to labor here as our heart desires: may it please you yet to give us these! But if not, use what there is of us till the last is gone, and be pleased ever to find someone or other to go in and out before this people, to feed them with knowledge and understanding.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you.” (John 15:18)

It is no new thing for the ungodly to hate the godly, so let us not be surprised if that is our portion. It ought to be quite sufficient for the servant if he is treated as his Lord was; what higher honor than that could he wish to have?

The witness of the Spirit of truth still continues, and Christ’s disciples are still privileged to he co-witnesses even with the Holy Spirit himself; let us take care to avail ourselves of this privilege whenever we can.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

We all can learn a lot from a midnight talk with a flying cat.

It’s incredibly hard to find children’s books that are theologically-sound and creative. Sophie and the Heidelberg Cat by Andrew Wilson is a great example of this rare breed of books.

The book follows a little girl named Sophie who is trying to hide from the world after disobeying her parents. But a magical cat takes her on a late night stroll over the rooftops to teach her an important lesson about God’s grace and forgiveness.

The cat teaches Sophie that the Bible tells stories of hundreds of people, and all of them disobey God… except one. So hope doesn’t come from the good things we do. It comes as a gift, from what Jesus has done.

This is a great, fun, and incredibly encouraging book for kids. I hope you’ll make it a part of your child’s library!

Buy Sophie and the Heidelberg Cat:

• Amazon (Hardback edition)
• ChristianBook.com (Hardback edition)

Get a prayer from Spurgeon in your inbox every day. Subscribe to the Pray with Spurgeon newsletter for free.

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We ask you, strengthen your servants for the battles of another week. Give us courage for all the trials, give us grace for all the joys. Help us to be a holy and a happy people! Let the redeemed of the Lord speak well of his name, and whatever our distress may be at times, yet over all may we lift up notes of perpetual joy, glorying in the name of the Lord their God.

We ask you, O God, at this time to revive religion in our land. Oh, that you would be pleased to speak by the Holy Ghost that the gospel’s power may be known, that there might be many that run away from the truth. Lord, hold us fast to it, bind us to it. May there be a people found in this place, and throughout this land, that will abide by the doctrines of the gospel, come what may.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.” (Hebrews 2:14–15)

There is no true deliverance from the fear of death except by looking to him whose death is the death of death. How does Christ take away the fear of death? First, by taking away from us the sin that is the sting of death. When sin is forgiven, we have perfect peace with God. Second, by changing the character of death itself. Death to the believer is not an execution; it is deliverance, freedom from slavery, and admission into the glory of God.

If you want to continue studying the book of Hebrews, check out the Consider Him Scripture memorization booklet from Cemented Co. This beautiful resource will help you study, apply, and memorize five key passages from Hebrews. Click here to learn more.*

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Tired of praying the same way about the same things?

It’s so easy for our prayer lives to fall into a rut — we pray the same words about the same problems day after day, and that’s boring. When we’re bored in prayer, it’s hard to pray with any kind of consistency or passion. But the Bible has a solution to our prayer problems — praying the Bible.

Praying the Bible is praying God’s own words back to him. When we use God’s Word as the foundation and starting point for our prayers, we pray in a more God-centered way about more God-centered issues.

I was first introduced to praying the Bible several years ago in a short book, Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney. This book is a short, approachable explanation of why and how to praying the Bible (and how to teach others).

Praying the Bible has absolutely revolutionized my prayer life. I hope you’ll grab a copy of Praying the Bible and enjoy the benefits of building your prayer life on God’s unchanging Word.

Buy Praying the Bible:

• Amazon (Hardback or Kindle editions)
• ChristianBook.com (Hardback or ebook editions)

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