DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)
Oh it was a sweet day when you turned my way, my Lord, to meet me. Most blessed Lord Jesus, I praise you for the singular application of the gospel to my own case. Nothing else could have helped me. I was under too deep a sense of sin to be relieved by the doctrine of mere reformation. I was too far gone to be healed by any flattering unction that could be laid to their soul as to what I could do. But I found all in you, as indeed I do this morning.
Some of us have been acquainted with you these thirty years and more. A third of a century have some of us known you, and some for half a century have been living upon you in dependence upon your bounty. But we have never had a want that you could not supply. We never had a grief which you could not assuage, but we have not, even now, in prospect of death and the grave, any fear which you cannot put to rest.
Amen.
VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)
“For I will create new heavens and a new earth; the past events will not be remembered or come to mind. Then be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight.” (Isaiah 65:17–18)
The work spoken of in the text has already begun among us. There is to be a literal new creation, but that new creation has already commenced. So I think that even now we ought to manifest a part of the joy. If we are called on to be glad and rejoice in the completion of the work, let us rejoice in the commencement of it as well. The Lord himself will rejoice. We who are in sympathy with him are exhorted and even commanded to be glad, so let us not be slack in this heavenly duty. People will never rejoice in God’s new work of creation while they are rejoicing in their own works and trusting in themselves and boasting their own merits. It is a sign of grace when a person is sick of self and is in harmony with God. People must stop rejoicing in what they can do and come to rejoice in what God has done and is doing. This shows that true change has occurred in someone’s life.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
Finding peace in the Prince of Peace
Today we prayed, confessing that we have no fear that God is not able to put to rest. We believe this in our heads, but sometimes this kind of bold faith can be difficult to apply and live out in the midst of our broken, sin-cursed, fallen world. We desperately need the Prince of Peace to come and redeem us, to make his blessing known as far as the curse is found.
Life in this fallen world is full of many things to be afraid of, but recognizing the good presence of Christ with us gives us the power to choose faith over fear.
That’s the message of Fear and Faith: Finding the Peace Your Heart Craves by Trillia Newbell. In this book, Newbell addresses a variety of common fears, and shows how the truth of God’s Word and the power of the gospel can help us overcome those fears with faith.
This book will encourage you, boost your confidence in God, and help you walk with faith every day. I hope you’ll grab a copy today and read it today.