Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
The apostle Paul was one of the greatest preachers and missionaries the world has ever known. So why did he refer to himself as “the chief of sinners”? Hear the surprising and encouraging answer when you listen to Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
The Worst Sinner of Them All
1 Timothy 1:12–20 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 37:53 • ID: 1954
The Joy of Inadequacy
God’s purpose for His people in every age is that we will depend upon Him entirely.
This dependence does not come naturally to us because one of the great idols of every age is that of power. Its allure is strong, its ability to corrupt even stronger. And what’s true now has always been so: those who obtain power are those bold enough to pursue it, and they tend to be marked by characteristics like charisma and strong personalities. This is how many measure strength and usefulness. Tragically, even within the church, leaders have often been given authority and influence because of their magnetism rather than their character and because of their ambition rather than their humility.
Paul was well acquainted with such miscalculations. In fact, he even spent portions of two letters instructing the Corinthian church not to evaluate spiritual leaders by worldly standards. On some occasions, the Corinthians were tempted to align themselves with their favorite orators and to cherish worldly wisdom. On others, Paul had to combat the influence of so-called “super-apostles” whose strength, gifting, and power were observable in a way which the Corinthians found appealing (2 Corinthians 11:5; 12:11).
By contrast, Paul said, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). He knew that the power of Christ was put on display in his weakness, and he readily confessed that he was not adequate for the work entrusted to him: “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2:16).
We may not be “super-apostles,” but we can relate to the temptation of worldly thinking. We are all prone to rely on ourselves—on our personalities or on our gifts. What we must learn is that spiritual usefulness isn’t found in such things. Instead, it is discovered when we humble ourselves before God, when we acknowledge that we are wholly inadequate. Paul’s confession must be ours: weakness is actually strength. The very nature of the “new covenant,” made by Jesus in His blood and to which we bring nothing but our sin, should be all we need to remind us that we do not have what we need but that He does. God is at work to bring us to that point—to convince us that He alone is adequate. Do we want to grow in boldness? Then we must embrace our weakness before God, and He will lead us to faith-filled boldness before others. Do we want to grow in usefulness? Then we must embrace our inadequacy in private, and God will prove His sufficiency through us.
Have you considered the possibility that one of the greatest barriers to your usefulness in serving God may actually be your own sense of personal adequacy? Be sure to commit time to prayer and ask God to show you whether the delusion of self-sufficiency has seeped into your thinking in one way or another. Ask Him to take it from you, that you may serve in the freedom and joy of inadequacy—and watch Him do the work!
How is God calling me to think differently?
How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?
What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?
Gideon's Three Hundred Men
1Then aJerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside bthe spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, cby the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
2The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, dlest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ 3Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, e‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.
4And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” 5So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” 6And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. 7And the Lord said to Gideon, f“With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” 8So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him gin the valley.
16And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with ntorches inside the jars. 17And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. 18When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, o‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”
Gideon Defeats Midian
19So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. 20Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. oAnd they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21Every man stood in his place around the camp, pand all the army ran. They cried out and fled. 22qWhen they blew the 300 trumpets, rthe Lord set severy man's sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah,1 as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. 23And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.
24tGideon sent messengers throughout uall the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as vBeth-barah, and also the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. 25And they captured wthe two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb xat the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon yacross the Jordan.
Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg, published by The Good Book Company, thegoodbook.com. Used by Truth For Life with permission. Copyright © 2021, 2022, The Good Book Company.
Humility, Happiness, Holiness
I will love him and manifest myself to him.
The Lord Jesus gives special revelations of Himself to His people. Even if Scripture did not declare this, many of the children of God could testify to the truth of it from their own experience. They have had manifestations of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in a peculiar manner, such as no mere reading or hearing could afford.
In the biographies of eminent saints, you will find many instances recorded in which Jesus has been pleased in a very special manner to speak to their souls and to unfold the wonders of His person; in this way their souls have been steeped in happiness, and they have thought themselves to be in heaven. Although they were not there, they were close to the threshold of it—for when Jesus manifests Himself to His people, it is heaven on earth; it is paradise in embryo; it is bliss begun.
Special manifestations of Christ exercise a holy influence on the believer’s heart. One effect will be humility. If a man says, “I have had such-and-such spiritual communications, I am a great man,” he has never had any communion with Jesus at all; for “the LORD regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.”1 He does not need to come near the haughty to know them and will never give them any visits of love. Another effect will be happiness; for in God’s presence there are pleasures forevermore. Holiness will be sure to follow. A man who has no holiness has never had this manifestation. Some men profess a great deal; but we must not believe anyone unless we see that his actions agree with what he says. “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked.”2 He will not bestow His favors upon the wicked, for He will neither cast away a perfect man, nor will He respect an evildoer. Thus there will be three effects of nearness to Jesus—humility, happiness, and holiness. May God give them to you, Christian!
1) Psalm 138:6
2) Galatians 6:7
Devotional material is taken from Morning and Evening, written by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. Copyright © 2003, Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org. Used by Truth For Life with written permission.
Daily Bible Reading for May 12
Arad Destroyed
1When wthe Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in xthe Negeb, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. 2yAnd Israel vowed a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed give this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to destruction.”1 3And the Lord heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to destruction. So the name of the place was called zHormah.2
The Bronze Serpent
4From Mount Hor athey set out by the way to the Red Sea, bto go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5And the people cspoke against God and against Moses, d“Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and ewe loathe this worthless food.” 6fThen the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and gthey bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7hAnd the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. iPray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9So jMoses made a bronze3 serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
The Song of the Well
10And the people of Israel set out and kcamped in Oboth. 11kAnd they set out from Oboth and kcamped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness that is opposite Moab, toward the sunrise. 12From there they set out and camped in lthe Valley of Zered. 13From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites, for the mArnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord,
“Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon,
15and the slope of the valleys
that extends to the seat of nAr,
and leans to the border of Moab.”
16And from there they continued oto Beer;4 that is the well of which the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together, so that pI may give them water.” 17Then Israel sang this song:
“Spring up, O well!—Sing to it!—
18the well that the princes made,
that the nobles of the people dug,
with qthe scepter and with their staffs.”
And from the wilderness they went on to Mattanah, 19and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20and from Bamoth to the valley lying in the region of Moab by the top of Pisgah rthat looks down on the desert.5
King Sihon Defeated
21Then sIsrael sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, 22t“Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into field or vineyard. We will not drink the water of a well. We will go by the King's Highway until we have passed through your territory.” 23uBut Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his people together and went out against Israel to the wilderness and vcame to Jahaz and fought against Israel. 24wAnd Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the xJabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strong. 25And Israel took all these cities, and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. 26For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon. 27Therefore the yballad singers say,
“Come to zHeshbon, let it be built;
let the city of Sihon be established.
28For afire came out from zHeshbon,
flame from the city of Sihon.
It devoured nAr of Moab,
and swallowed6 the heights of the Arnon.
29aWoe to you, O Moab!
You are undone, O people of bChemosh!
He has made his sons fugitives,
and his daughters captives,
to an Amorite king, Sihon.
30So we overthrew them;
Heshbon, as far as cDibon, perished;
and we laid waste as far as Nophah;
fire spread as far as dMedeba.”7
King Og Defeated
31Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. 32And Moses sent to spy out eJazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there. 33Then they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against them, he and all his people, to battle fat Edrei. 34gBut the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people, and his land. And hyou shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.” 35So they defeated him and his sons and all his people, until he had no survivor left. And they possessed his land.
Psalm 60
He Will Tread Down Our Foes
To the choirmaster: according to fShushan Eduth. A gMiktam1 of David; hfor instruction; when he istrove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.
1O God, jyou have rejected us, kbroken our defenses;
you have been angry; loh, restore us.
2You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open;
mrepair its breaches, for it totters.
3nYou have made your people see hard things;
oyou have given us pwine to drink that made us stagger.
4You have set up qa banner for those who fear you,
that they may flee to it rfrom the bow.2 Selah
5sThat your tbeloved ones may be delivered,
give salvation by your right hand and answer us!
6God has spoken uin his holiness:3
“With exultation vI will divide up wShechem
and portion out the Vale of xSuccoth.
7yGilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
Judah is my bscepter.
8cMoab is my washbasin;
upon Edom I dcast my shoe;
over ePhilistia I shout in triumph.”4
9Who will bring me to the fortified city?
fWho will lead me to Edom?
10Have you not grejected us, O God?
You hdo not go forth, O God, with our armies.
11Oh, grant us help against the foe,
for ivain is the salvation of man!
12With God we shall jdo valiantly;
it is he who will ktread down our foes.
Psalm 61
Lead Me to the Rock
To the choirmaster: with lstringed instruments. Of David.
1Hear my cry, O God,
mlisten to my prayer;
2from the end of the earth I call to you
when my heart is nfaint.
Lead me to othe rock
that is higher than I,
3for you have been pmy refuge,
a strong qtower against the enemy.
4Let me rdwell in your tent forever!
Let me take refuge under sthe shelter of your wings! Selah
5For you, O God, have heard my vows;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6tProlong uthe life of the king;
may his years endure to all generations!
7May he be enthroned forever before God;
appoint vsteadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
8So will I ever sing praises to your name,
as I wperform my vows day after day.
Judgment on Arrogant Assyria
5Woe to Assyria, ethe rod of my anger;
the staff in their hands is my fury!
6Against a fgodless nation I send him,
and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take gspoil and seize plunder,
and to htread them down like the mire of the streets.
7But he idoes not so intend,
and his heart does not so think;
but it is in his heart to destroy,
and to cut off nations not a few;
8for he says:
j“Are not my commanders all kings?
9kIs not lCalno like mCarchemish?
pIs not qSamaria like Damascus?
10As my hand has reached to rthe kingdoms of the idols,
whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11shall I not do to Jerusalem and sher idols
tas I have done to Samaria and her images?”
12uWhen the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, vhe1 will punish the speech2 of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. 13wFor he says:
“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I remove the boundaries of peoples,
and plunder their treasures;
like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.
14My hand has found like a nest
the wealth of the peoples;
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing
or opened the mouth or chirped.”
15Shall xthe axe boast over him who hews with it,
or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
16Therefore the Lord God of hosts
will send wasting sickness among his ystout warriors,
and under his glory za burning will be kindled,
like the burning of fire.
17aThe light of Israel will become a fire,
and bhis Holy One a flame,
and cit will burn and devour
his thorns and briers din one day.
18The glory of ehis forest and of his ffruitful land
the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
that a child can write them down.
The Remnant of Israel Will Return
20gIn that day hthe remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more ilean on him who struck them, but jwill lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, kto the mighty God. 22lFor though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, monly a remnant of them will return. nDestruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. 23For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.
24Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O my people, owho dwell in Zion, pbe not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as qthe Egyptians did. 25For rin a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. 26And sthe Lord of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck tMidian uat the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it vas he did in Egypt. 27And in that day whis burden will depart from your shoulder, and xhis yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”3
28He has come to Aiath;
he has passed through yMigron;
at Michmash he stores zhis baggage;
29they have crossed over athe pass;
at bGeba they lodge for the night;
cRamah trembles;
dGibeah of Saul has fled.
30Cry aloud, O daughter of eGallim!
Give attention, O Laishah!
O poor fAnathoth!
31Madmenah is in flight;
the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.
32This very day he will halt at gNob;
he will shake his fist
at the mount of hthe daughter of Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem.
33Behold, the Lord God of hosts
iwill lop jthe boughs with terrifying power;
the great in height will be hewn down,
and the lofty will be brought low.
34He will cut down jthe thickets of the forest with an axe,
and kLebanon will fall by the Majestic One.
Warning Against Worldliness
1What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions1 are yat war within you?2 2You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask zwrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4aYou adulterous people!3 Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? bTherefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit cthat he has made to dwell in us”? 6But dhe gives more grace. Therefore it says, e“God opposes the proud but dgives grace to the humble.” 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. fResist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8gDraw near to God, and he will draw near to you. hCleanse your hands, you sinners, and ipurify your hearts, jyou double-minded. 9kBe wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10lHumble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11mDo not speak evil against one another, brothers.4 The one who speaks against a brother or njudges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12There is only oone lawgiver and pjudge, he who is able to save and qto destroy. But rwho are you to judge your neighbor?
Boasting About Tomorrow
13Come now, you who say, s“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For tyou are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15Instead you ought to say, u“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16As it is, you boast in your arrogance. vAll such boasting is evil. 17wSo whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
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