Beloved brethren, the importance of prayer in our lives can never be overstated. As with any relationship, if we wish to draw near to God, we must communicate. He communicates to us through His word and by His Spirit, and we communicate with Him through prayer.

In our flesh, we tend to pray when we are in need, when we struggle, when situations seem dire. Yet we ought also to pray when we are well, when we are blessed, when all seems right.

Thus, Paul urges us, “pray at all times” (Eph. 6:18). We are to come to God with our needs. We are to come to God to make petition for others. We are to pray for all men (1 Tim. 2:1), and for those in government (1 Tim. 2:2). We are to pray for the sick (Jas. 5:16). We are to pray for our enemies, for those who persecute us (Mt. 5:44). We are to come to God with our anxieties, our concerns, with thanksgiving and praise.

Clearly this does not mean we need to join a monastery, nor spend 24 hours per day, 7 days per week on our knees. What it does mean is that, inasmuch as possible, we are to recognize God’s presence in our lives at all times. We are to take time to separate ourselves and pray, as Jesus Himself often did (Lk. 5:16).

Realize also that our prayers aren’t simply about getting what we ask for. Prayers are not quarters, and God is not a cosmic candy dispenser. God does answer prayer, though not always as we wish. But the end goal of prayer shouldn’t be to bend God to our will, but to conform our will to His, and thus to be conformed to the likeness of Christ who prayed, “not as I will, but as you will” (Mt. 26:39; Lk. 22:42).

Let us therefore humble ourselves before the mighty hand of God and cast our anxiety on Him, because He cares for us (1 Pet. 5:6-7). Let us come to Him, not harboring worry, but giving thanks, presenting to Him our requests and He will give us a peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:6-7). Let us pray at all times that we might draw near to Him, and He will draw near to us (Jas. 4:8).

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, February 6

"Praying always." Ephesians 6:18

What multitudes of prayers we have put up from the first moment when we learned to pray. Our first prayer was a prayer for ourselves; we asked that God would have mercy upon us, and blot out our sin. He heard us. But when He had blotted out our sins like a cloud, then we had more prayers for ourselves. We have had to pray for sanctifying grace, for constraining and restraining grace; we have been led to crave for a fresh assurance of faith, for the comfortable application of the promise, for deliverance in the hour of temptation, for help in the time of duty, and for succour in the day of trial. We have been compelled to go to God for our souls, as constant beggars asking for everything. Bear witness, children of God, you have never been able to get anything for your souls elsewhere. All the bread your soul has eaten has come down from heaven, and all the water of which it has drank has flowed from the living rock- Christ Jesus the Lord. Your soul has never grown rich in itself; it has always been a pensioner upon the daily bounty of God; and hence your prayers have ascended to heaven for a range of spiritual mercies all but infinite. Your wants were innumerable, and therefore the supplies have been infinitely great, and your prayers have been as varied as the mercies have been countless. Then have you not cause to say, "I love the Lord, because He hath heard the voice of my supplication"? For as your prayers have been many, so also have been God's answers to them. He has heard you in the day of trouble, has strengthened you, and helped you, even when you dishonoured Him by trembling and doubting at the mercy-seat. Remember this, and let it fill your heart with gratitude to God, who has thus graciously heard your poor weak prayers. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits."

When Moses and Israel emerged safely from the Red Sea, having traveled through it on dry land, and having seen the Egyptians consumed by the sea returning to its place over that dry land, that sang a song to the Lord. That sang of His glory. They sang of His power. They sang of His salvation. They sang of who God is and what He does.

When we gather, we are encouraged by Scripture to do likewise. We are instructed to speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19). We are told that by these psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs we should be teaching and admonishing one another (Col. 3:16). We are exhorted to sing with thankfulness in our hearts to God (Eph. 5:20, Col. 3:16).

Too many sing shallow, self-centered song supposing it to be “worship,” and much of it is often at odds with Scripture. This should never be!

Our songs should be deep, rich in their content, full of praise and wonder, focused on and directed toward our God and Father who loves us and watches over us.

This is how Israel sang upon their Exodus from Egypt. This is the manner in which David authored the Psalms he wrote. As David exclaims, “I will sing praises to You” (Ps. 138:`), and that the kings of the earth would “sing of the ways of the Lord” (Psalm. 138:5).

Are you singing of the ways of the Lord? Do you give thanks and praise Him with your voice, making a joyful noise to God (Ps. 66:1, 98:4)?

Let us sing to Him always, as did Moses and Israel, as did David, remembering, as the hymnist wrote (based on Lam. 3:22-23):

Great is thy faithfulness,
Great is thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed thy hand hast provided;
Great is thy faithfulness,
Lord unto me.

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, February 1

"They shall sing in the ways of the Lord." Psalm 138:5

The time when Christians begin to sing in the ways of the Lord is when they first lose their burden at the foot of the Cross. Not even the songs of the angels seem so sweet as the first song of rapture which gushes from the inmost soul of the forgiven child of God. You know how John Bunyan describes it. He says when poor Pilgrim lost his burden at the Cross, he gave three great leaps, and went on his way singing:

"Blest Cross! blest Sepulchre! blest rather be
The Man that there was put to shame for me!"

Believer, do you recollect the day when your fetters fell off? Do you remember the place when Jesus met you, and said, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love; I have blotted out as a cloud thy transgressions, and as a thick cloud thy sins; they shall not be mentioned against thee any more for ever." Oh! what a sweet season is that when Jesus takes away the pain of sin. When the Lord first pardoned my sin, I was so joyous that I could scarce refrain from dancing. I thought on my road home from the house where I had been set at liberty, that I must tell the stones in the street the story of my deliverance. So full was my soul of joy, that I wanted to tell every snow-flake that was falling from heaven of the wondrous love of Jesus, who had blotted out the sins of one of the chief of rebels. But it is not only at the commencement of the Christian life that believers have reason for song; as long as they live they discover cause to sing in the ways of the Lord, and their experience of His constant lovingkindness leads them to say, "I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth." See to it, brother, that thou magnifiest the Lord this day.

"Long as we tread this desert land,
New mercies shall new songs demand."

Beloved brethren, be thankful that our salvation depends not upon our own righteousness. For as Paul wrote to Titus, “He saved us, not on the basis of our deeds done in righteousness” (Tit. 3:5). Likewise, Isaiah, tells us that “all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment” (Isa. 64.6). Isaiah’s description, though appearing mild in the English translation here, is rather appalling.

Yet so is our own righteousness in God’s eyes.

Thank God for the Lord Jesus Christ in whom we are made righteous before God. That righteousness that is accounted because of faith, as it was for Abraham when he believed God (Rom. 4:3). Our righteousness is not a righteousness of our own, but it is that which comes from God on the basis of faith (Phil. 3:9)

More so, Christ is our righteousness. It is His name - “The Lord our righteousness” (Jer. 23:6). Let us therefore be grateful that it does not depend on us, but on Him, who is righteous. Let us remember that the Lord our righteousness saved us, not because of our own righteousness, but despite our own unrighteousness and iniquity, on the basis of His mercy.

Always remember how blessed we are, as David sang, “whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered,” and “to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity!”

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, January 31

"The Lord our Righteousness." Jeremiah 23:6

It will always give a Christian the greatest calm, quiet, ease, and peace, to think of the perfect righteousness of Christ. How often are the saints of God downcast and sad! I do not think they ought to be. I do not think they would if they could always see their perfection in Christ. There are some who are always talking about corruption, and the depravity of the heart, and the innate evil of the soul. This is quite true, but why not go a little further, and remember that we are "perfect in Christ Jesus." It is no wonder that those who are dwelling upon their own corruption should wear such downcast looks; but surely if we call to mind that "Christ is made unto us righteousness," we shall be of good cheer. What though distresses afflict me, though Satan assault me, though there may be many things to be experienced before I get to heaven, those are done for me in the covenant of divine grace; there is nothing wanting in my Lord, Christ hath done it all. On the cross He said, "It is finished!" and if it be finished, then am I complete in Him, and can rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, "Not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." You will not find on this side heaven a holier people than those who receive into their hearts the doctrine of Christ's righteousness. When the believer says, "I live on Christ alone; I rest on Him solely for salvation; and I believe that, however unworthy, I am still saved in Jesus;" then there rises up as a motive of gratitude this thought- "Shall I not live to Christ? Shall I not love Him and serve Him, seeing that I am saved by His merits?" "The love of Christ constraineth us," "that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto Him which died for them." If saved by imputed righteousness, we shall greatly value imparted righteousness.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ego2nTG1u8U&si=FdxF7SfSS_Z_HyKX
Virginians! Believe on Jesus!

Brethren, on what do you set your sights daily? Is your aim success as the world defines it? Is it leisure? Perhaps it is more simple, more stoic, to “live and let live” as they say.

Forget not, we are but sojourners here; our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20). And so should be our focus.

Jesus exhorted that where our treasure is, so would our hearts be (Mt. 6:21). So Paul exhorts that we look not at those things visible and temporal, but we see beyond to those things which are invisible and eternal, we look to “the things which are not seen” (2 Cor. 4:18).

Do not let that which is around you distract you from the goal. Run the race “in such a way that you may win” (1 Cor. 9:24). We have not been left without guidance to wander aimless in this world. We have God’s word, we know what lies ahead, and we know how to get there. So, “as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul” (1 Pet. 2:11). Discipline yourself so that you will not be “disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:27). Present yourself as a living and holy sacrifice to the one true God, and be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Rom. 12:1-2).

Never weary of doing the Lord’s work (1 Cor. 15:58). Then in the end, we shall receive an imperishable wreath (1 Cor. 9:25), an “unfading crown of glory” (1 Pet. 5:4), and be blessed to hear the words from our Lord, “well done, good and faithful servant” (Mt. 25:21).

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, January 29

"The things which are not seen." 2 Corinthians 4:18

In our Christian pilgrimage it is well, for the most part, to be looking forward. Forward lies the crown, and onward is the goal. Whether it be for hope, for joy, for consolation, or for the inspiring of our love, the future must, after all, be the grand object of the eye of faith. Looking into the future we see sin cast out, the body of sin and death destroyed, the soul made perfect, and fit to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. Looking further yet, the believer's enlightened eye can see death's river passed, the gloomy stream forded, and the hills of light attained on which standeth the celestial city; he seeth himself enter within the pearly gates, hailed as more than conqueror, crowned by the hand of Christ, embraced in the arms of Jesus, glorified with Him, and made to sit together with Him on His throne, even as He has overcome and has sat down with the Father on His throne. The thought of this future may well relieve the darkness of the past and the gloom of the present. The joys of heaven will surely compensate for the sorrows of earth. Hush, hush, my doubts! death is but a narrow stream, and thou shalt soon have forded it. Time, how short- eternity, how long! Death, how brief- immortality, how endless! Methinks I even now eat of Eshcol's clusters, and sip of the well which is within the gate. The road is so, so short! I shall soon be there.

"When the world my heart is rending
With its heaviest storm of care,
My glad thoughts to heaven ascending,
Find a refuge from despair.
Faith's bright vision shall sustain me
Till life's pilgrimage is past;
Fears may vex and troubles pain me,
I shall reach my home at last."

Believer, are you perfect? Of course not; no one is. We are on our way, and in “that day,” we will be truly complete. Until then, the Christian life, the true Christian life, is not one of ease. There are peaks and valleys, twists and turns, trials and tribulations (Jn. 16:33).

We all fail from time to time, some more than others. It is the nature of humanity. Paul struggled to do what he knew to be right, as he explains in Romans 7. Our flesh wishes to dominate, but we must walk in the spirit that we might not indulge the flesh (Gal. 5:16-24).

When failure comes, as it inevitably does, we must learn from it and move past it, put it behind and forget it, pressing forward toward our goal (Phil. 3:13-14).

Moreover, we must remember that, while we seek to be “complete in Christ” (Col. 1:28), it is not merely by our own effort. Let us share in Paul’s confidence that “He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6).

His goal is that He might present us “holy and blameless” before our Father (Col. 1:22), therefore, let us continue in our faith knowing that He will make us “perfect” for that day.

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, January 28

"Perfect in Christ Jesus." Colossians 1:28

Do you not feel in your own soul that perfection is not in you? Does not every day teach you that? Every tear which trickles from your eye, weeps "imperfection"; every harsh word which proceeds from your lip, mutters "imperfection." You have too frequently had a view of your own heart to dream for a moment of any perfection in yourself. But amidst this sad consciousness of imperfection, here is comfort for you- you are "perfect in Christ Jesus." In God's sight, you are "complete in Him;" even now you are "accepted in the Beloved." But there is a second perfection, yet to be realized, which is sure to all the seed. Is it not delightful to look forward to the time when every stain of sin shall be removed from the believer, and he shall be presented faultless before the throne, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing? The Church of Christ then will be so pure, that not even the eye of Omniscience will see a spot or blemish in her; so holy and so glorious, that Hart did not go beyond the truth when he said:

"With my Saviour's garments on,
Holy as the Holy One."

Then shall we know, and taste, and feel the happiness of this vast but short sentence, "Complete in Christ." Not till then shall we fully comprehend the heights and depths of the salvation of Jesus. Doth not thy heart leap for joy at the thought of it? Black as thou art, thou shalt be white one day; filthy as thou art, thou shalt be clean. Oh, it is a marvellous salvation this! Christ takes a worm and transforms it into an angel; Christ takes a black and deformed thing and makes it clean and matchless in His glory, peerless in His beauty, and fit to be the companion of seraphs. O my soul, stand and admire this blessed truth of perfection in Christ.

Temptation of Jesus | WaS Bible Study
https://rumble.com/v74m0ei-temptation-of-jesus-was-bible-study.html

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”
‭‭I John‬ ‭4‬:‭15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/114/1jn.4.15.NKJV

https://youtu.be/V_tr-L0vFqI?si=TytEX8mVRNzezzAF
Islam, lgbt, Marxism enslaves, but Jesus saves. I Timothy 1:15

Israel is a somewhat tricky and often contentious subject for Christians. “God says ‘those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed,’ so we must support Israel.”

But what is “Israel”? For many, specifically, those who would make the statement above, the middle-eastern state that was founded in the 1940s is Israel; however, while the country of Israel exists primarily on the land God promised Abraham, the nation of Israel in Scripture is not a place - it is a people.

Scour the Old Testament and you will find God’s “chosen” people to be referred to as both Israel, and the sons of Israel, as the label was derived from the name given to Jacob after he had “striven with God and…prevailed” (Gen. 32:28). From then on, God’s people were called “Israel,” regardless of where they were.

But not all those who descended from Jacob were saved. Paul even tells us that “they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel” (Rom. 9:6). As Paul further explains, it is not ethnicity or genetics that makes one a child of God, it is God’s choice, those of/who receive the promise (Rom. 9). Jesus Himself makes this clear when He tells the Pharisees that they are not children of Abraham, but children of the devil, because they are not of the faith of Abraham (Jn. 8:39-47).

Paul affirms this in Romans chapter 4 and Galatians 3 when he explains that Abraham’s descendants, those who would receive the promise, are those who are “of the faith of Abraham” (Rom. 4:16; Gal. 3:7).

Thus, when Paul writes, “and so all Israel will be saved,” he is not speaking of those who are genetically descended from Jacob, but of us, Christians, the body of Christ, all who chosen of God and who are of the faith. They are Israel because they are chosen, not chosen because they are Israel.

Brethren, let us then be humble in knowing that our belonging to Israel, being grafted in by God’s choice and doing (Rom. 11:17), understanding that some were cut off, and that those who were cut off may yet be grafted back in, should God open their eyes and they do not continue in their unbelief (Rom. 11:18-25). Let us be ever thankful that God sought us out, and that according to His will, He saved us (Eph. 1:5).

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, January 21

"And so all Israel shall be saved." Romans 11:26

Then Moses sang at the Red Sea, it was his joy to know that all Israel were safe. Not a drop of spray fell from that solid wall until the last of God's Israel had safely planted his foot on the other side the flood. That done, immediately the floods dissolved into their proper place again, but not till then. Part of that song was, "Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed." In the last time, when the elect shall sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and of the Lamb, it shall be the boast of Jesus, "Of all whom thou hast given me, I have lost none." In heaven there shall not be a vacant throne.

"For all the chosen race
Shall meet around the throne,
Shall bless the conduct of His grace,
And make His glories known."

As many as God hath chosen, as many as Christ hath redeemed, as many as the Spirit hath called, as many as believe in Jesus, shall safely cross the dividing sea. We are not all safely landed yet:

"Part of the host have crossed the flood,
And part are crossing now."

The vanguard of the army has already reached the shore. We are marching through the depths; we are at this day following hard after our Leader into the heart of the sea. Let us be of good cheer: the rear-guard shall soon be where the vanguard already is; the last of the chosen ones shall soon have crossed the sea, and then shall be heard the song of triumph, when all are secure. But oh! if one were absent- oh! if one of His chosen family should be cast away- it would make an everlasting discord in the song of the redeemed, and cut the strings of the harps of paradise, so that music could never be extorted from them.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=VxoBLBjhLMs&si=rXuB6kqOc79e1l9E
MLK and Thomas Jefferson vs Jesus Christ

Only Jesus can judge him eternally...but we can arrange the meeting

Brethren, do you have a firm grasp on Scripture? Do you struggle getting others to understand? It is common for Christians even to argue with unbelievers, to try to get them to accept or comprehend God’s truth.

We should not do this. To this we were never called. This is neither our mission nor our purview. Only God can open eyes. Only God can open the mind. Only God can open the heart.

Recall after His resurrection when He stood in the midst of those who had walked with Him in His earthy ministry. Even they did not truly see until “He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Lk. 24:45).

We cannot force understanding, even within ourselves. We must be enlightened; He must open our understanding. Likewise, we cannot force it upon others. Nor can we force the gospel through clever argument or marketing methods. For, “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:4). It is outside our power to change this.

Likewise, we cannot change hearts by force. It is God who opens hearts, just as He did with Lydia (Acts 16:14).

Thus, when you sit down to read, when you discuss with others, do not set your mind on your own understanding (Pr. 3:5); instead, pray for God, through His Holy Spirit, to open your mind and heart, and that of your audience, to receive His word according to His intent, and to do so as well for any to whom you preach the gospel.

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Evening, January 19

"Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures." Luke 24:45

He whom we viewed last evening as opening Scripture, we here perceive opening the understanding. In the first work He has many fellow-labourers, but in the second He stands alone; many can bring the Scriptures to the mind, but the Lord alone can prepare the mind to receive the Scriptures. Our Lord Jesus differs from all other teachers; they reach the ear, but He instructs the heart; they deal with the outward letter, but He imparts an inward taste for the truth, by which we perceive its savour and spirit. The most unlearned of men become ripe scholars in the school of grace when the Lord Jesus by His Holy Spirit unfolds the mysteries of the kingdom to them, and grants the divine anointing by which they are enabled to behold the invisible. Happy are we if we have had our understandings cleared and strengthened by the Master! How many men of profound learning are ignorant of eternal things! They know the killing letter of revelation, but its killing spirit they cannot discern; they have a veil upon their hearts which the eyes of carnal reason cannot penetrate. Such was our case a little time ago; we who now see were once utterly blind; truth was to us as beauty in the dark, a thing unnoticed and neglected. Had it not been for the love of Jesus we should have remained to this moment in utter ignorance, for without His gracious opening of our understanding, we could no more have attained to spiritual knowledge than an infant can climb the Pyramids, or an ostrich fly up to the stars. Jesus' College is the only one in which God's truth can be really learned; other schools may teach us what is to be believed, but Christ's alone can show us how to believe it. Let us sit at the feet of Jesus, and by earnest prayer call in His blessed aid that our dull wits may grow brighter, and our feeble understandings may receive heavenly things.

Kansas school guidance counselor tells students Jesus, Charlie Kirk, Trump cannot be used in role model assignment: lawsuit
https://thepostmillennial.com/kansas-school-guidance-counselor-tells-students-jesus-charlie-kirk-trump-cannot-be-used-in-role-model-assignment-lawsuit