Pray with Spurgeon: God is still drawing us to himself

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

You did pluck us like brands out of the burning. We remember well when you did draw us from a corrupt world, and from our own self-righteousness, and we came to Jesus. But you are drawing still: we feel the sacred bands; we yield to them, glad to do so. Lord, draw us this morning upward to yourself, nearer than ever. May we not be satisfied with those heights of devotion to which we have attained; but may we reach somewhat higher today.

Oh that we might become more completely consecrated! May the image of Christ become more perfect upon us; stamp it deeper into our nature. We trust the image is there; but oh, that it set still deeper into our very selves, that all might see that the seal of the Holy Spirit was upon us, in the likeness of Christ our Lord.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“And the LORD said to Satan, ‘The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?’” (Zechariah 3:2)

The brand is in the fire. Nor is it merely a brand lying upon the heap, to be by-and-by put upon the flames; it is “a brand plucked out of the fire.” It has been in the fire. Does not this portray our condition, not only congenial for the fire of sin, but actually burning and blazing in it? We have blazed away the reverse of merrily since then; some have become charred with sin, till their very bodies contain the marks of that tremendous fire.

But, blessed be God, we have a brand plucked out of the fire. Sinners these, who, though they have still within them the propensity to sin, are no longer in the fire of sin. They have been taken away from it. They have received the renewing grace of God. The fire that once burned within them has been quenched.

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Another Classic Daily Devotional from Spurgeon

Yesterday I recommended Spurgeon’s classic devotional, The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith, which contains 365 readings, one for each day of the year.

Another much-loved daily devotional by Spurgeon is Morning and Evening, which contains two readings for each day, so that you can start and end every day of 2022 in God’s Word.

Morning and Evening is a masterpiece. It will encourage and guide you throughout the new year.

Buy Morning and Evening:

Pray with Spurgeon: God, thank you for your love

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We come to you with a prayer for love. We have expressed our love, but we are ashamed when we have done so, because, after all, what is our love? It is so faint, so cold to you, compared with your love to us. So we would adore you this morning for the love which you have manifested to us.

You loved us before the foundation of the world: yours is no new compassion; for those whom you foreknew, you predestined to be conformed unto the image of your Son, out of your own pure love to them: and because you have loved us with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness you have drawn us, and we feel the drawings now.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

We love God, not because we felt that we ought to love him, but “because he first loved us.” A sense of duty is a very proper thing concerning many matters, and I do not deny that it is our duty to love God with all our heart, and mind, and soul, and strength, for this is the very essence of the law of the Lord, but no man ever loves as a mere matter of duty.

You love even an earthly object because you cannot help yourself, and you love God because he is infinitely lovely, and because he has so completely won your heart as to engross your whole affection. We could not help doing so. The mighty deeps of his immeasurable love, high up on the eternal hills, flow down into the inmost recesses of our empty hearts. When, afterward, a fountain of love is seen springing up out of them, the secret of its action is to be traced to that great reservoir away up on the everlasting hills.

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Spend the New Year with Spurgeon, trusting God’s promises

Spurgeon frequently said that God’s promises are like checks. And because God is never lacking in resources, his account is always full and his checks never bounce.

Spurgeon’s classic devotional, The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith, contains 365 readings (one for each day of the year) to help you trust and treasure God’s promises.

Reading through The Cheque Book in 2022 will definitely encourage you.

Pray with Spurgeon: The Wonder of Christmas — A Holiday Prayer

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Most glorious Lord God, it is marvelous in our eyes that God should become incarnate, that your Son should take our flesh upon himself. 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 lain 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 his is risen again from the dead.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!” (Luke 2:13–14)

Mere men—men possessed with pride, think it a fine thing to preach before kings and princes; and think it great condescension now and then to have to minister to the humble crowd. Not so the angels. They stretched their willing wings, and gladly sped from their bright seats above, to tell the shepherds on the plain by night, the marvelous story of an Incarnate God.

And mark how well they told the story, and surely you will love them! Not with the stammering tongue of him that tells a tale in which he hath no interest; nor even with the feigned interest of a man that would move the passions of others, when he feels no emotion himself; but with joy and gladness, such as angels only can know. They sang the story out, for they could not stay to tell it in heavy prose. They sang, “Glory to God on high, and on earth peace, good will towards men.” I think they sang it with gladness in their eyes; with their hearts burning with love, and with breasts as full of joy as if the good news to man had been good news to themselves.

Pray with Spurgeon: Thank you Jesus, for coming at Christmas

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

This morning do we feel our hearts warmed towards you, in the person of your dear Son. Surely we cannot see him made our brother, bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, sympathizing with us, married to us, dead for us, and risen again for us—we cannot gaze into his right royal face, without feeling our heart melt at the very sight of him.

Oh Jesus, we love you—we are yours; and you are ours. You have given yourself to us, as well as for us; and now we cheerfully give ourselves back to you, feeling that we are never so much our own, as when we are yours; that indeed we are not ourselves, until we are lost in you; but that then have we found our truest manhood, when it and all else is surrendered to the all-conquering power of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:10–12)

The anointed Saviour has full power to save, for he “is Christ the Lord;” and therefore he is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him.

He is wrapped in swaddling cloth, not in marble balls, wrapped in purple and fine linen, and welcomed by the great and mighty of earth; nay, this greatest of all princes is born amid the poverty of our ordinary manhood. He is One chosen out of the people, the people’s Savior, and a manger receives the people’s King.

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God’s grace, growth, and New Year’s resolutions

Did you know that God’s grace doesn’t just save you, it also gives you the power that you need to slay sin? As we celebrate Christmas this week, we’re celebrating that, “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, [AND] instructing us to deny godlessness…” (Titus 2:11–12).

Don’t just make New Year’s resolutions this year — be equipped with God’s strength to actually grow.

I already recommended it yesterday, but one of my all-time favorite books is The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges. This book explains how God’s grace empowers Christians to slay sin and grow in godliness. It is one of the helpful, practical, and encouraging books that I have ever read!

Buy The Discipline of Grace:

Pray with Spurgeon: God has come near (at Christmas and every day)

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Our Father in heaven, you are infinitely beyond the grasp of our understanding; but in great condescension, you have brought yourself very near to the grasp of our love, and we trust this morning many of us can say with all sincerity, “You know all things. You know that I love you.”

O Lord, it has seemed to us impossible not to love you; for you are so supremely lovable, so full of goodness, so perfect. You have manifested yourself to us as love, and shall not love go out towards love? Especially this morning do we feel our hearts warmed towards you, in the person of your dear Son.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.” (Luke 2:8–9)

These men were probably poor and illiterate, but that did not hinder God from revealing himself to them, nor prevent the coming of his Son to them. They were engaged in their ordinary calling, “keeping watch over their flock by night,” when this great blessing came to them. Seldom does such a blessing as this come to idlers. It was not while they were gadding abroad, and wasting their time, but while they kept watch over their flock that “the angel of the Lord came upon them.”

First one angel led the way, and then a multitude of the heavenly host followed; and these poor men, perhaps troubled with common superstition that the appearance of God, or any supernatural visitation, would always be followed by death, “were terrified.”

Editor’s Note: I’ll be featuring Spurgeon’s commentary on the Christmas story all week, so make sure you follow along throughout this week (and invite a friend to subscribe and follow along as well!)

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How God’s Grace will Fuel for Your New Year’s Resolutions

As 2021 draws to a close, many of us are already thinking about how we can grow in godliness and fight sin more faithfully next year. While there’s nothing special about the new year, this is a great opportunity to reset, make new habits, fight old sins, and plan to glorify God more in 2021.

Of course, we are absolutely hopeless in the battle against sin without God’s help. On our own, we can never put away sin or put on righteousness — our hearts are too sin-stained.

But God has not left us alone — he has come to us. He has raised us to new life in his Son. He has sent us his Spirit to empower us.

One of my favorite books of all time is The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges. This book is an incredibly practical guide to Christian growth. It explains how God’s grace empowers us to change. This book will open your eyes to your urgent need to fight sin and the desperate need for help in that battle.

If you’ve read this newsletter very long, you know that I love this book and recommend it all the time. If you’ve read it and benefitted from it, buy a copy for someone else who needs help fighting sin and growing in holiness. If you haven’t read it, and you’re ready to grow in 2022, I hope you’ll grab a copy today.

Buy The Discipline of Grace:

Pray with Spurgeon: Jesus, be glorified in my life (and all things)

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Father, glorify your Son! In scattering pardon through his precious blood, glorify your Son! In sending forth the eternal Spirit to convince men, and bring them to his feet, Father, glorify your Son! In enriching your saints with gifts and graces, and building them up into his image, Father, glorify your Son! In the gathering together of the whole company of his elect, and in the hastening of his kingdom, and his coming, Father, glorify your Son! Beyond this prayer we cannot go. Glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you; and unto Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be glory forever and ever.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.” (Luke 2:6–7)

Heavenly glory is wedded to earthly poverty; and, henceforth, let no man dare to despise the poor and needy, since the Son of the Highest is born in a stable, and cradled in a manger. How low the King of glory stoops, and how gloriously he uplifts the lowly to share his glory!

Editor’s Note: I’ll be featuring Spurgeon’s commentary on the Christmas story all week, so make sure you follow along throughout this week (and invite a friend to subscribe and follow along as well!)

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Celebrate Christmas with Confidence

We’re looking forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus this weekend. But, how do we know that Jesus was really born at all? Can we really believe that the Son of God was born in a manger… to a virgin, no less?!

Friends, YES, we CAN really believe that! And there are good reasons to believe it, as well!

If you want to increase your confidence in the Christmas story this week, check out Is Christmas Unbelievable? by apologist Rebecca McLaughlin. This book asks and answers four tough questions about the Christmas story.

This book is super-short (just 64 pages), so you can read it this week and be equipped to better defend your faith this weekend to non-Christian friends and family members.

Grab a copy of Is Christmas Unbelievable? and celebrate with confidence this week.

Buy Is Christmas Unbelievable?:

Pray with Spurgeon: May the people in darkness see a great light

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We would, according to your word, pray for all kings and such as are in authority, that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives. We pray for all nations also. O Lord bless and remember the lands that sit in darkness; and let them see a great light; and may missionary enterprise be abundantly successful.

And let any nations where our God is known, especially this land, and the land across the mighty ocean, that love the same Savior and speak the same tongue, be always favored with the divine presence, and with abundant prosperity and blessing.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered… Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant.” (Luke 2:1, 4–5)

Little did any idea enter into Caesar’s head that he was accomplishing the purpose of God by bringing Mary to Bethlehem, at that particular time, so that her child might be born there. But God can accomplish the purposes of his providence, and of his grace, in any way that he pleases; and although Caesar is not aware of all that is involved in his action, his decree, which he intends simply to be a means of registering his subjects, and of filling his royal treasury, is to be overruled by God for the fulfillment of the prophecy, uttered centuries before the event happened, that Christ must be born at Bethlehem.

Editor’s Note: I’ll be featuring Spurgeon’s commentary on the Christmas story all week, so make sure you follow along throughout this week (and invite a friend to subscribe and follow along as well!)

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Christmas Gift Idea: An Encouraging Book for a Newlywed

In the challenges and joys of marriage, it can be difficult to remember that marriage was created by God for his own glory. Your marriage wasn’t created by you — it was created by God. And your marriage wasn’t created for you either, it was created for God. The reason you and your spouse are married is for God’s glory.

A great book to remind married people that they (and their marriage) were created by God for his own glory is Married for God by Christopher Ash.

If you know any newlyweds this year, anyone experiencing a difficult season in their marriage, or anyone experiencing a faithful, fruitful season in their marriage, you can remind them of the purpose for their marriage (and their greatest hope in marriage!), that they are not their own, for they were bought with a price.

Married for God is a great Christmas gift for any Christian who is married or preparing for marriage. If you’re thinking of someone who might benefit from this book, I hope you’ll grab a copy for them today (even if you won’t be able to give it to them before Christmas), I know they’ll be encouraged by it!

Buy Married for God:

Pray with Spurgeon: God, may our children believe in Jesus

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Then would we pray for our children, that they might be saved. Some of us can no longer pray for our children’s conversion, our prayers are heard already; but there are others who have children who vex them, and grieve their hearts. O God, save sons and daughters of godly people. Let them not have to sigh over their children as Eli did, and as Samuel did; and may they see their sons and daughters become the children of the living God.

We would pray for our servants, for our neighbors, for our kinsfolk of near or far degree, that all might be brought to Jesus. Do this, O God, of your infinite mercy!

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.” (Psalm 34:11)

Though a warrior and a king, the Psalmist was not ashamed to teach children. Teachers of youth belong to the true peerage; their work is honorable, and their reward shall be glorious. Children are the most hopeful persons to teach—wise men who wish to propagate their principles take care to win the ear of the young.

So far as they can be taught by word of mouth, or learned by the hearing of the ear, we are to communicate the faith and fear of God, inculcating upon the rising generation the principles and practices of piety. This verse may be the address of every Sunday School teacher to his class, of every parent to his children.

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Teach your children the wonder of God’s Word

Today we prayed for our own families — that our children would come to know Christ and be saved. And then we saw in God’s Word that this isn’t just something we can sit around and wait for  — we must teach our children the truth about God and his Word.

I’ve created a new resource to help you along the way — GodCenteredFamily.org. When you subscribe to GodCenteredFamily.org, you get everything you need for a daily, meaningful, interactive time in God’s Word. (A passage to read, questions to ask, something to pray about, and a song to sing in response).

I’m really excited about this resource and I hope you’ll check it out and see how it can help you teach your children the truth about God and his Word.

Learn more and download a free sample at GodCenteredFamily.org

Pray with Spurgeon: A prayer for the self-righteous

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Will you look upon the poor rich who, so many of them, know nothing about you, and are worshipping their own wealth. The Lord grant that the many, for whom there is no special gospel service, but who are wrapped up in self-righteousness, might be brought to hear the gospel of Jesus, that they also, as well as the poor, might come to Christ. God bless this land with more of gospel light; with more of gospel life and love. You will hear us, O Lord!

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart celebrates, and I give thanks to him with my song.” (Psalm 28:7)

The Lord employs his power on our behalf, and moreover, infuses strength into us in our hour of weakness. The Psalmist, by an act of appropriating faith, takes the omnipotence of the Lord to be his own. Dependence upon the invisible God gives great independence of spirit, inspiring us with confidence more than human.

The Lord preserves his people from unnumbered ills; and the Christian warrior, sheltered behind his God, is far more safe than the hero when covered with his shield of brass or triple steel.

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Christmas Gift Idea for Your Pastor’s Wife

Being a pastor’s wife is a uniquely challenging work. I’m so thankful for the ways my wife bears my burdens and equips me to serve our church more faithfully.

If you want to bless and encourage the wives of your pastors this Christmas, consider grabbing copies of a new book, Partners in the Gospel: 50 Meditations for Pastors’ and Elders’ Wives by Megan Hill. This book is a collection of 50 short devotionals that will leave readers feeling refreshed and encouraged for the uniquely challenging (and rewarding) work ahead of them.

I hope you’ll consider grabbing a few copies for your pastors’ wives this Christmas.

Buy Partners in the Gospel:

Pray with Spurgeon: Help our country in these trying times

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

There are some of us that cried to you about our country. You know how in secret, we groaned and sighed over evil times; and you have begun to hear us already, for which we desire to praise and bless your name. But we would not cease to pray for this land, that you would roll away from it all its sin—that you would deliver it from the curse of drunkenness, from infidelity, from ritualism, from rationalism, and every form of evil; and that this land might become a holy land.

O Lord, bring multitudes of men and women to listen to the gospel. Break in, we pray, upon their cold indifference; for how many there are of them who have not yet risen from their beds this morning, who have not thought of coming up to any place of worship—Lord give them a love for your house, a desire to hear your gospel.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. The demons begged him, ‘Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.’ So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there.” (Mark 5:11–13)

The devil cannot enter even a pig without Christ’s permission. So he cannot tempt us without our Lord’s permission. We may rest assured that even this great monster of evil is under Christ’s control. He cannot bother us unless Jesus gives him permission.

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Christmas Gift Idea for Young Readers

If you know a kid who can’t get enough books — you need to check out the Wingfeather Saga. This is a series of fantasy novels for kids, ages 8–12, by Andrew Peterson.

These are not cheesy, Christian adventures — these are incredible fantasy novels written from a Christian worldview (like a modern day Narnia). These books will keep kids glued and will help them think about Christian themes like redemption.

You can grab the first four books in the Wingfeather series in a great boxset with cool art that will get any kid excited to dive in.

Buy The Wingfeather Saga Box Set: