DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)
Lord, if you see any of us dead and cleaving to the world, you can lift us up. This is our comfort, that we cannot be so dead that you cannot quicken us. Let the hand of love that drew us first, draw us now. Jesus, if you are mine, assure my conscience of her part in your most precious blood. If our lips can only lisp “Abba Father,” may the Spirit of adoption be with us now.
Hide not yourself from your own flesh, our divine Husband. You who are the Head of your Body, be not strange to the members of your frame. Reveal yourself to us, for you will make us all that we should be. Your love can make us loving; your presence can make us joyous; your example can make us holy.
Amen.
VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!” (Ephesians 2:4–5)
This is a wondrous truth, that God loves the sinner even while he is dead in sin. This love is not caused by any goodness in him, for he is dead, he is wrapped up in the cerements of his sins. There is nothing lovable about him; yet God, “for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.”
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
How God’s grace helps you grow
Today we confident prayed that God is able to raise us from the dead, no matter the extent of the sin we are stuck in. We ask God to help us grow in holiness, because we know that God’s grace doesn’t just save us from sin, it also gives us the power that we need to slay sin. The work of growing in godliness is a work of cooperation between us and God’s grace.
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! If you want to grow in godliness, start with The Discipline of Grace.
If you’ve read this newsletter for a while, you know that I recommend this book all the time, because it’s one of my all-time favorites and completely changed my life.
Reading The Discipline of Grace will definitely help you grow in holiness. I hope you’ll grab a copy today.