DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)
We ask that we may see the world crucified unto us, and that we may be crucified unto the world; that henceforth Christ only may live in us, and we may only live in him.
Lord, bless your people, that this high privilege—for we are persuaded it is a high privilege—may indeed become ours—to be dead with Christ, to be buried with Christ, to be risen with Christ, to be reigning in Christ, and henceforth to be in loving, living, lasting union with him who has redeemed us to God by his blood.
Amen.
VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)
“You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask.” (James 4:2)
Worldly desires, however strong they may be, do not in many cases obtain what they seek. A person longs to be happy, but he is not. He pines to be great, but he grows more ordinary every day. He aspires after what he thinks will content him, but he is still unsatisfied. One way or another his life is a disappointment. How can it be otherwise? If we sow the wind, must we not reap the whirlwind and nothing else? If a person’s desires are the longings of fallen nature, if they begin and end with self, if the chief end for which one lives is not to glorify God but to glorify self, then one can desire but will not have.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
Beautiful books to help you dive into Spurgeon’s earliest sermons*
I absolutely love to find well-designed books that look good on a shelf and feel good in your hands. And The Lost Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon is one of my favorite series.
Each volume in this series contains a full-color reproduction of one of Spurgeon’s handwritten journals, including dozens of outlines from his earliest sermons. These books look great in your library, but more importantly, they are just so enjoyable to read — it’s so cool to see Spurgeon’s thinking and preaching develop (in his own handwriting!) Every time I pick these books up, I just find that I can’t put them down.
But these books aren’t just fun to read — they’re incredibly encouraging. Even from the earliest days of his preaching, contained in these books, Spurgeon was consistently pointing his readers to the glory of God and the finished work of Christ. Hundreds of years later, we get to benefit from these sermons.
The Lost Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon Collector’s Set is on sale for more than $350 off. This is a great opportunity to get a beautiful set of Spurgeon volumes as a Christmas gift for a Spurgeon fan you love.