Brothers and sisters, do you find yourself wrestling with sin and feeling sorrowful for it? Good! This means your conscience has not, as those who fall into deceit, been seared (1 Tim. 4:1-3).

Sin in our lives should cause us grief, as we know it causes God grief. And this grief should lead to repentance, and repentance the seeking of forgiveness. As God tells us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”(1 Jn. 1:9). Of course, this requires us recognizing our own sin, which should be the case with all Christians (1 Jn. 1:9).

Yet despite our sorrow, we have hope. Though Paul himself exclaimed, “wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”, he also proclaimed that in our minds, we still serve God, and there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Rom. 7:24-8:1).

Praise God for the sorrow that brings repentance!

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, October 13

"Godly sorrow worketh repentance." 2 Corinthians 7:10

Genuine, spiritual mourning for sin is the work of the Spirit of God. Repentance is too choice a flower to grow in nature's garden. Pearls grow naturally in oysters, but penitence never shows itself in sinners except divine grace works it in them. If thou hast one particle of real hatred for sin, God must have given it thee, for human nature's thorns never produced a single fig. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh."

True repentance has a distinct reference to the Saviour. When we repent of sin, we must have one eye upon sin and another upon the cross, or it will be better still if we fix both our eyes upon Christ and see our transgressions only, in the light of His love.

True sorrow for sin is eminently practical. No man may say he hates sin, if he lives in it. Repentance makes us see the evil of sin, not merely as a theory, but experimentally- as a burnt child dreads fire. We shall be as much afraid of it, as a man who has lately been stopped and robbed is afraid of the thief upon the highway; and we shall shun it- shun it in everything- not in great things only, but in little things, as men shun little vipers as well as great snakes. True mourning for sin will make us very jealous over our tongue, lest it should say a wrong word; we shall be very watchful over our daily actions, lest in anything we offend, and each night we shall close the day with painful confessions of shortcoming, and each morning awaken with anxious prayers, that this day God would hold us up that we may not sin against Him.

Sincere repentance is continual. Believers repent until their dying day. This dropping well is not intermittent. Every other sorrow yields to time, but this dear sorrow grows with our growth, and it is so sweet a bitter, that we thank God we are permitted to enjoy and to suffer it until we enter our eternal rest.

Christian, when Jesus was preparing to return to glory, He promised His disciples that He would not leave them alone, but that He would send them a comforter, a helper, who would teach them and bring to remembrance all things He had taught them (Jn. 14:26). And just as they were not without this Helper, neither are we. For, “do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you” (1 Cor. 3:16)?

We have within us the same comforter who indwelt those who walked daily with the Lord. And through Him, in all our afflictions, God comforts us that we may also comfort those who suffer similar affliction (2 Cor. 1:3-4).

He guides us into truth, speaking what He hears from the Father and the Son, and taking from that which is the Son’s and revealing it to us (Jn. 16:13-14). He even intercedes for us when we know not how to pray (Rom. 8:26).

Believer, do not fail to avail yourself of this gracious gift, our seal and surety of our salvation, the One who reveals to us the things freely given to us by God (1 Cor. 2:12). He is not only beside us, but within us, and in all our troubles, He is able to comfort us.

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Evening, October 12

"The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost." John 14:26

This age is peculiarly the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, in which Jesus cheers us, not by His personal presence, as He shall do by-and-by, but by the indwelling and constant abiding of the Holy Ghost, who is evermore the Comforter of the church. It is His office to console the hearts of God's people. He convinces of sin; He illuminates and instructs; but still the main part of His work lies in making glad the hearts of the renewed, in confirming the weak, and lifting up all those that be bowed down. He does this by revealing Jesus to them. The Holy Spirit consoles, but Christ is the consolation. If we may use the figure, the Holy Spirit is the Physician, but Jesus is the medicine. He heals the wound, but it is by applying the holy ointment of Christ's name and grace. He takes not of His own things, but of the things of Christ. So if we give to the Holy Spirit the Greek name of Paraclete, as we sometimes do, then our heart confers on our blessed Lord Jesus the title of Paraclesis. If the one be the Comforter, the other is the Comfort. Now, with such rich provision for his need, why should the Christian be sad and desponding? The Holy Spirit has graciously engaged to be thy Comforter: dost thou imagine, O thou weak and trembling believer, that He will be negligent of His sacred trust? Canst thou suppose that He has undertaken what He cannot or will not perform? If it be His especial work to strengthen thee, and to comfort thee, dost thou suppose He has forgotten His business, or that He will fail in the loving office which He sustains towards thee? Nay, think not so hardly of the tender and blessed Spirit whose name is "the Comforter." He delights to give the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Trust thou in Him, and He will surely comfort thee till the house of mourning is closed for ever, and the marriage feast has begun.

Dear Christian, do you take time away to meditate upon God’s word? If we wish truly to draw close to Him, to know Him, we must hear from Him. He has given us His word for this purpose.

Read any section of Psalm 119 and you will find listed an abundance of benefits in reading His word. His word guides our ways as a light in the dark (Ps. 119:105). It helps tokeep our way pure and to keep us from sin (Psalm. 119:9,11). It provides insight (Psalm. 119:99) and understanding (Psalm 119:130).

Jesus Himself tells us that His word cleanses us (Jn. 15:3), and that the words He spoke are spirit and are life (Jn. 6:63).

Why then would you not take time to read and meditate upon it? If we wish to be heard of the Father, Jesus exhorted that, not only must we abide in Him, but His words must abide in us (Jn. 15:7).

Beloved brethren, do not neglect this source of strength, of guidance, and of sustenance. Forget not that “man does not by bread alone, but…by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8:3; Mt. 4:4).

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, October 12

"I will meditate in Thy precepts." Psalm 119:15

There are times when solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser than speech. We should be better Christians if we were more alone, waiting upon God, and gathering through meditation on His Word spiritual strength for labour in His service. We ought to muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. Truth is something like the cluster of the vine: if we would have wine from it, we must bruise it; we must press and squeeze it many times. The bruiser's feet must come down joyfully upon the bunches, or else the juice will not flow; and they must well tread the grapes, or else much of the precious liquid will be wasted. So we must, by meditation, tread the clusters of truth, if we would get the wine of consolation therefrom. Our bodies are not supported by merely taking food into the mouth, but the process which really supplies the muscle, and the nerve, and the sinew, and the bone, is the process of digestion. It is by digestion that the outward food becomes assimilated with the inner life. Our souls are not nourished merely by listening awhile to this, and then to that, and then to the other part of divine truth. Hearing, reading, marking, and learning, all require inwardly digesting to complete their usefulness, and the inward digesting of the truth lies for the most part in meditating upon it. Why is it that some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make but slow advances in the divine life? Because they neglect their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God's Word. They love the wheat, but they do not grind it; they would have the corn, but they will not go forth into the fields to gather it; the fruit hangs upon the tree, but they will not pluck it; the water flows at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it. From such folly deliver us, O Lord, and be this our resolve this morning, "I will meditate in Thy precepts."

Brethren, an unpopular doctrine among many Christian’s is that of election and predestination. Many believe the idea that God would choose those to be saved and leave the rest to condemnation contradicts their view of free will and man’s ability to choose God.

Popularity does not affirm truth, nor does lack of popularity refute it.

God’s word is replete with passages describing God’s foreknowledge of all people and events, and His choosing, according to His will and for His good pleasure.

Why did God choose Israel? Why did Jesus choose His apostles and tell them that they didn’t choose Him (Jn. 15:16)? Why did God choose Paul when Paul wasn’t seeking God but rather to kill Jesus’ followers?

Because it pleased Him to do so.

Ephesians chapter one and two make clear that God chooses. Paul details election in Romans 8-11. Jesus Himself said no one could come to Him unless the Father first draws him in the same way that one would draw water from a well. Does the water choose to be drawn up in the bucket?

Paul writes that “it does not depend on the man who wills” (Rom. 9:16), it is not a choice. Paul also writes, “What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened” (Rom. 11:7).

While offensive to some, this should be a sobering and humbling realization. We have nothing to offer God. Even our faith is a gift. The only thing we contribute to our salvation is the sin that makes it necessary.

If you are born anew, it was not of your will, but of God (Jn. 1:13). Be thankful, not boastful. Be humble, not proud. You deserve condemnation as much as anyone else. Your salvation is an unearned and undeserved gift.

Remember that God has a purpose for you. If you are saved, it is because He first predestined you and then He called you (Rom. 8:30). Therefore, be grateful and sober, and “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:1-3).

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Evening, October 11

"Whom He did predestinate, them He also called." Romans 8:30

In the second epistle to Timothy, first chapter, and ninth verse, are these words- "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling." Now, here is a touchstone by which we may try our calling. It is "an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace." This calling forbids all trust in our own doings, and conducts us to Christ alone for salvation, but it afterwards purges us from dead works to serve the living and true God. As He that hath called you is holy, so must you be holy. If you are living in sin, you are not called, but if you are truly Christ's, you can say, "Nothing pains me so much as sin; I desire to be rid of it; Lord, help me to be holy." Is this the panting of thy heart? Is this the tenor of thy life towards God, and His divine will? Again, in Philippians, 3:13, 14, we are told of "The high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Is then your calling a high calling? Has it ennobled your heart, and set it upon heavenly things? Has it elevated your hopes, your tastes, your desires? Has it upraised the constant tenor of your life, so that you spend it with God and for God? Another test we find in Hebrews 3:1- "Partakers of the heavenly calling." Heavenly calling means a call from heaven. If man alone call thee, thou art uncalled. Is thy calling of God? Is it a call to heaven as well as from heaven? Unless thou art a stranger here, and heaven thy home, thou hast not been called with a heavenly calling; for those who have been so called, declare that they look for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God, and they themselves are strangers and pilgrims upon the earth. Is thy calling thus holy, high, heavenly? Then, beloved, thou hast been called of God, for such is the calling wherewith God doth call His people.

Christian, when you come before God in prayer, are you like the Pharisee who stood and proudly claimed to not be a sinner like the tax collector standing nearby, or like the tax collector who wouldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven (Mt. 18:10-13)? Do you come boasting of your virtue, or humbly recognizing your lack and need of God’s mercy (Mt.18:10-13)? I tell you, it is the latter Good seeks.

Prayer not only allows us to commune and communicate with God, it teaches and reminds us of our reliance upon Him.

While we may, and are encouraged as believers, to approach His throne in confidence with our requests, we must never think more highly of ourselves than we ought, but to be sober and of sound judgement a (Rom. 12:3).

Paul tells us we are to lift up holy hands in prayer (1 Tim. 2:8), as did many in the Old Testament, reaching up to our Father in our desire to receive into those open and upturned hands the answer to our supplication. Yet Paul also reminds us that God’s grace is sufficient for us, because in our weakness, God’s strength is made manifest (2 Cor. 12:9).

Let us, therefore, come into His presence with humility that He may exalt us (Jas. 4:10).

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, October 11

"Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens." Lamentations 3:41

The act of prayer teaches us our unworthiness, which is a very salutary lesson for such proud beings as we are. If God gave us favours without constraining us to pray for them we should never know how poor we are, but a true prayer is an inventory of wants, a catalogue of necessities, a revelation of hidden poverty. While it is an application to divine wealth, it is a confession of human emptiness. The most healthy state of a Christian is to be always empty in self and constantly depending upon the Lord for supplies; to be always poor in self and rich in Jesus; weak as water personally, but mighty through God to do great exploits; and hence the use of prayer, because, while it adores God, it lays the creature where it should be, in the very dust. Prayer is in itself, apart from the answer which it brings, a great benefit to the Christian. As the runner gains strength for the race by daily exercise, so for the great race of life we acquire energy by the hallowed labour of prayer. Prayer plumes the wings of God's young eaglets, that they may learn to mount above the clouds. Prayer girds the loins of God's warriors, and sends them forth to combat with their sinews braced and their muscles firm. An earnest pleader cometh out of his closet, even as the sun ariseth from the chambers of the east, rejoicing like a strong man to run his race. Prayer is that uplifted hand of Moses which routs the Amalekites more than the sword of Joshua; it is the arrow shot from the chamber of the prophet foreboding defeat to the Syrians. Prayer girds human weakness with divine strength, turns human folly into heavenly wisdom, and gives to troubled mortals the peace of God. We know not what prayer cannot do! We thank thee, great God, for the mercy-seat, a choice proof of thy marvellous lovingkindness. Help us to use it aright throughout this day!

Matthew
Chapter 1

1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;

3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;

4 And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;

5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;

6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;

7 And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;

8 And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;

9 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;

10 And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;

11 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:

12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;

13 And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;

14 And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;

15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;

16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.

20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:

25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

Oh Christian, do you agonize over the evil by which we’re surrounded? Do not despair. There is nothing to fear from man. God promises redemption for His chosen. He spoke through the prophet Jeremiah saying, “ I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible” (Jer. 15:21).

Do you trust God? Why should you not? For “God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Num. 23:19)

We have nothing to fear from evil men. The “worst” they can do to us is hasten our entrance into glory. Thus Jesus exhorts, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt. 10:28).

This body is a mere tent, a temporary dwelling. One way or another, our deliverance is assured. We should, therefore, look forward to the day we enter His presence, as did Paul when he exclaimed that “we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8).

Evil men hold no trepidation for those who know God. He is our deliverer, and He will, according to His will, deliver us from the hand of the wicked.

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Evening, October 10

"And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible." Jeremiah 15:21

Note the glorious personality of the promise. I will, I will. The Lord Jehovah Himself interposes to deliver and redeem His people. He pledges Himself personally to rescue them. His own arm shall do it, that He may have the glory. Here is not a word said of any effort of our own which may be needed to assist the Lord. Neither our strength nor our weakness is taken into the account, but the lone I, like the sun in the heavens, shines out resplendent in all-sufficience. Why then do we calculate our forces, and consult with flesh and blood to our grievous wounding? Jehovah has power enough without borrowing from our puny arm. Peace, ye unbelieving thoughts, be still, and know that the Lord reigneth. Nor is there a hint concerning secondary means and causes. The Lord says nothing of friends and helpers: He undertakes the work alone, and feels no need of human arms to aid Him. Vain are all our lookings around to companions and relatives; they are broken reeds if we lean upon them- often unwilling when able, and unable when they are willing. Since the promise comes alone from God, it would be well to wait only upon Him; and when we do so, our expectation never fails us. Who are the wicked that we should fear them? The Lord will utterly consume them; they are to be pitied rather than feared. As for terrible ones, they are only terrors to those who have no God to fly to, for when the Lord is on our side, whom shall we fear? If we run into sin to please the wicked, we have cause to be alarmed, but if we hold fast our integrity, the rage of tyrants shall be overruled for our good. When the fish swallowed Jonah, he found him a morsel which he could not digest; and when the world devours the church, it is glad to be rid of it again. In all times of fiery trial, in patience let us possess our souls.

https://republicanreport.org/predator-murdered-justice-delivered/?utm_source=iref&utm_placement=RRnewsletter&utm_medium=email#google_vignette

CHILD RAPIST KILLED IN PRISON

Believer, does your faith waver when your prayers appear to go unanswered, or an answer is delayed? What if the answer is no?

Are you seeking the Lord Himself or what is on His table? Would you, like the Canaanite woman, be satisfied with mere crumbs that fall from His table (Mt. 15:23-28)?

Dear brethren, it should be enough for us to sit at His feet, let alone all else He does for us. How blessed we are even to be able to come into His presence.

Remember, though we often use it for such, and we are told to “let our requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6), prayer is more about shaping us and drawing us close than it is for getting us what our flesh desires.

Has He not promised that if we abide in Him and His words in us, that He would grant whatever we ask (Jn. 15:7)? So then, if we do abide, and His words are in us, for what will we ask?

James warns us of a misguided heart when He writes, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” (Jas. 4:3).

This is why the same apostle who recorded Jesus’ words about abiding in Him also exhorts that our confidence lies in knowing that “if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (1 Jn. 5:14-15).

Therefore, let us remember that we should seek first His will in our prayers, as did even Jesus in the garden (Mt. 26:39), that we may know we are heard (1 Jn. 5:14). In this way, we can be assured of an answer, and that, an answer in the positive.

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Evening, October 9

"But He answered her not a word." Matthew 15:23

Genuine seekers who as yet have not obtained the blessing, may take comfort from the story before us. The Saviour did not at once bestow the blessing, even though the woman had great faith in Him. He intended to give it, but He waited awhile. "He answered her not a word." Were not her prayers good? Never better in the world. Was not her case needy? Sorrowfully needy. Did she not feel her need sufficiently? She felt it overwhelmingly. Was she not earnest enough? She was intensely so. Had she no faith? She had such a high degree of it that even Jesus wondered, and said, "O woman, great is thy faith." See then, although it is true that faith brings peace, yet it does not always bring it instantaneously. There may be certain reasons calling for the trial of faith, rather than the reward of faith. Genuine faith may be in the soul like a hidden seed, but as yet it may not have budded and blossomed into joy and peace. A painful silence from the Saviour is the grievous trial of many a seeking soul, but heavier still is the affliction of a harsh cutting reply such as this, "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs." Many in waiting upon the Lord find immediate delight, but this is not the case with all. Some, like the jailer, are in a moment turned from darkness to light, but others are plants of slower growth. A deeper sense of sin may be given to you instead of a sense of pardon, and in such a case you will have need of patience to bear the heavy blow. Ah! poor heart, though Christ beat and bruise thee, or even slay thee, trust Him; though He should give thee an angry word, believe in the love of His heart. Do not, I beseech thee, give up seeking or trusting my Master, because thou hast not yet obtained the conscious joy which thou longest for. Cast thyself on Him, and perseveringly depend even where thou canst not rejoicingly hope.

Christian, Paul tells us of his Israelite brethren, “they did not stumble so as to fall” (Rom. 11:11). Do then you believe God would allow those He has chosen to fall? May it never be!

You belong to Him. He is your God, and He has promised to strengthen you, to help you, to uphold you with His righteous right hand (Isa. 41:10). Those He chooses will obtain the salvation He promised, as those He hardens will not (Rom. 11:7).

The road laid before us is rough; those who seek to walk with Him walk a path that is not easy. But He lights our way. He strengthens us (Phil. 4:13). He sustains us (Ps. 51:12).

We will face tribulations and adversity along the way. Our job is not to lean upon our own understanding, but to lean into Him and trust Him (Pr. 3:5). This may be the most difficult lesson of the Christian life, learning to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Yet this we must do. We must learn to see beyond our circumstances to the inheritance that awaits us.

Oh how wonderful it will be when we enter into glory! And He is able to keep us for that day, for that purpose, to keep us from falling, so that we may stand blameless before Him with great joy (Jud. 1:24). Hallelujah, Amen!

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Morning, October 9

"Able to keep you from falling." Jude 24

In some sense the path to heaven is very safe, but in other respects there is no road so dangerous. It is beset with difficulties. One false step (and how easy it is to take that if grace be absent), and down we go. What a slippery path is that which some of us have to tread! How many times have we to exclaim with the Psalmist, "My feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped." If we were strong, sure-footed mountaineers, this would not matter so much; but in ourselves, how weak we are! In the best roads we soon falter, in the smoothest paths we quickly stumble. These feeble knees of ours can scarcely support our tottering weight. A straw may throw us, and a pebble can wound us; we are mere children tremblingly taking our first steps in the walk of faith, our heavenly Father holds us by the arms or we should soon be down. Oh, if we are kept from falling, how must we bless the patient power which watches over us day by day! Think, how prone we are to sin, how apt to choose danger, how strong our tendency to cast ourselves down, and these reflections will make us sing more sweetly than we have ever done, "Glory be to Him, who is able to keep us from falling." We have many foes who try to push us down. The road is rough and we are weak, but in addition to this, enemies lurk in ambush, who rush out when we least expect them, and labour to trip us up, or hurl us down the nearest precipice. Only an Almighty arm can preserve us from these unseen foes, who are seeking to destroy us. Such an arm is engaged for our defence. He is faithful that hath promised, and He is able to keep us from falling, so that with a deep sense of our utter weakness, we may cherish a firm belief in our perfect safety, and say, with joyful confidence,

Against me earth and hell combine,
But on my side is power divine;
Jesus is all, and He is mine!

Psalms
Chapter 146

1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.

2 While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.

3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:

6 Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:

7 Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:

8 The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:

9 The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

10 The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.

Crisis following Unraveling; The Fourth Turning.

Brethren, do you follow Paul’s admonition to “with all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit” (Eph. 6:18)? Or do your prayers fall flat?

Do you wonder what Paul means when he exhorts prayer “in the Spirit”? Contrary to the assertion of some, this does not mean to pray “in tongues.” No, like walking in the Spirit, this means to be submitted to Him, relying upon Him, and in close fellowship with Him.

There is s fervency in such prayer, an experience of our inmost being reaching out to God. At times scripture describes this as “crying out to God” (Num. 12:13; Jdg. 10:10; 1 Chron. 5:20; et al).

This is the cry of a heart fully focused toward, humble before, and relying upon God. This is what God desires, as Jesus explained, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4:24).

If we truly wish to be heard, we must pray according to His will, not our own. “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 Jn. 5:14). John assures us that God will always answer such prayer in the affirmative.

There is also a hidden beauty in this, because even when we know not how to pray, the Spirit intercedes for us (Rom. 8:26-27).

Therefore beloved brethren, humble yourself before God, submitting to, and praying by, His Spirit, that your prayers may be heard and that God might exalt you at the proper time (1 Pet. 5:6).

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Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions

Evening, October 8

"Praying in the Holy Ghost." Jude 20

Mark the grand characteristic of true prayer- "In the Holy Ghost." The seed of acceptable devotion must come from heaven's storehouse. Only the prayer which comes from God can go to God. We must shoot the Lord's arrows back to Him. That desire which He writes upon our heart will move His heart and bring down a blessing, but the desires of the flesh have no power with Him.

Praying in the Holy Ghost is praying in fervency. Cold prayers ask the Lord not to hear them. Those who do not plead with fervency, plead not at all. As well speak of lukewarm fire as of lukewarm prayer- it is essential that it be red hot. It is praying perseveringly. The true suppliant gathers force as he proceeds, and grows more fervent when God delays to answer. The longer the gate is closed, the more vehemently does he use the knocker, and the longer the angel lingers the more resolved is he that he will never let him go without the blessing. Beautiful in God's sight is tearful, agonizing, unconquerable importunity. It means praying humbly, for the Holy Spirit never puffs us up with pride. It is His office to convince of sin, and so to bow us down in contrition and brokenness of spirit. We shall never sing Gloria in excelsis except we pray to God De profundis: out of the depths must we cry, or we shall never behold glory in the highest. It is loving prayer. Prayer should be perfumed with love, saturated with love- love to our fellow saints, and love to Christ. Moreover, it must be a prayer full of faith. A man prevails only as he believes. The Holy Spirit is the author of faith, and strengthens it, so that we pray believing God's promise. O that this blessed combination of excellent graces, priceless and sweet as the spices of the merchant, might be fragrant within us because the Holy Ghost is in our hearts! Most blessed Comforter, exert Thy mighty power within us, helping our infirmities in prayer.

PNW Examines Antichrist-False Prophet Prototypes Via Globalism
https://johnhouk.substack.com/p/pnw-examines-antichrist-false-prophet

SUMMARY: I just read an interesting post (and I’m going to re-read it a few times to properly digest the message) from Prophecy News Watch entitled, “Tony Blair & Bill Gates: A Global Prototype Of The Antichrist And False Prophet?” NOTE: An Antichrist System is discussed with PROTOTYPE examples… The information is more than National Sovereignty vs One-World Globalism. Americans should see red flags for stolen Liberty in the name of peace and delusional safety. Christians should see red flags in being told what to believe – even if the telling contradicts the Word of God. …CHRISTIANS SHOULD READ!
#AntichristSystem #GlobalistConnection #AIConnection

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tE15C0B1fM

One week in and I'm feeling more energetic, my weight is down, I'm working out 2 times a day, and in a much better mood.