Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
When dancers spin, they establish a focal point so they can maintain their balance. Christians similarly need focus to stay strong in faith in the midst of chaos and confusion. So where do we look? We’ll find out on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
The God of Hope
We find ourselves at a period in history when it is easy to question hope in the midst of worldly peril. While even a brief study of centuries past would remind us that our age is not the worst, darkest, most evil age that has ever been experienced, with our limited perspectives we are apt to grow concerned, distracted, and anxious. We would do well to read the apostle Paul’s words as an indirect prayer for our daily lives: that the God of endurance might grant us encouragement in times of fear and uncertainty by filling us with all joy and peace.
The book of Romans, Paul’s greatest theological treatise, was written to a diverse congregation in Rome made up of Jews and Gentiles, men and women, and rich and poor, all of varying levels of spiritual maturity. As he reached the end of his glorious letter, Paul wanted to call them to live confidently as people marked by a distinct and abounding hope.
We find such hope simply by knowing our God. He is our God of hope for two reasons.
First, it is God who generates hope in us. His word “was written for our instruction” (Romans 15:4) so that we might think about and learn from His unchanging trustworthiness. Hope, endurance, encouragement, and peace are not commodities outside of ourselves; rather, in giving us Himself, dwelling in our hearts by His Spirit, God gives us all these things, which well up from inside.
Second, He is also the object of our hope. The prophet Jeremiah said in the midst of his own dreadful circumstances, “The LORD is my portion … therefore I will hope in him” (Lamentations 3:24). The psalmist agreed when he wrote in response to the disheartening circumstances that surrounded him: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26). In other words, it doesn’t matter how long difficulty lingers in our lives; if we have God, He is ours for eternity, and He is enough for eternity.
The God whom we meet in Scripture is therefore the God of hope—a hope that is neither superficial nor fleeting. Our enduring Savior stands the test of time.
When you face a crisis, you quickly discover where your hope is placed. If your faith rests on the promises of God, then your hope will be grounded in those promises, and it will not be disappointed. It will abound through all the trials of life. It doesn’t matter what fear parades before your eyes; you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that your God, who brought the world into being and brought you from death to life, preserves it and sustains you by His power.
It is in God alone that true hope can be found. And it is in looking to Him that we find ourselves filled with all joy and peace—today and every day, on into eternity.
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?
God Is Our Fortress
To the choirmaster. Of athe Sons of Korah. According to bAlamoth.1 A Song.
1God is our crefuge and strength,
a very dpresent2 help in etrouble.
2Therefore we will not fear fthough the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into gthe heart of the sea,
3though hits waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
4There is ia river whose streams make glad jthe city of God,
the holy khabitation of the Most High.
5lGod is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6mThe nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he nutters his voice, the earth omelts.
7pThe Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8qCome, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9rHe makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he sbreaks the bow and shatters the spear;
the burns the chariots with fire.
10u“Be still, and know that I am God.
vI will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
11pThe Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
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.
Perhaps This Year
They ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
Israel's weary wanderings were all over, and the promised rest was attained. No more moving tents, fiery serpents, fierce Amalekites, and howling wildernesses: They came to the land that flowed with milk and honey, and they ate the old corn of the land. Perhaps this year, beloved Christian reader, this may be your case or mine. Joyful is the prospect, and if faith be in active exercise, it will yield unalloyed delight. To be with Jesus in the rest, which remains for the people of God, is a cheering hope indeed, and to expect this glory so soon is a double bliss. Unbelief shudders at the Jordan that still rolls between us and the goodly land, but let us rest assured that we have already experienced more ills than death at its worst can cause us. Let us banish every fearful thought and rejoice with exceeding great joy in the prospect that this year we shall begin to be "forever with the Lord."
Some of the company will this year remain on earth, to do service for their Lord. If this should fall to our lot, there is no reason why the New Year's text should not still be true. "We who have believed enter that rest." The Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance; He gives us glory begun below. In heaven believers are secure, and so are we preserved in Christ Jesus; there they triumph over their enemies, and we have victories too. Celestial spirits enjoy communion with their Lord, and this is not denied to us. They rest in His love, and we have perfect peace in Him; they sing His praise, and it is our privilege to bless Him too.
We will this year gather celestial fruits on earthly ground, where faith and hope have made the desert like the garden of the Lord. Man ate angels' food of old, and why not now? O for grace to feed on Jesus, and so to eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan this year!
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 January 1
The Creation of the World
1In the abeginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was bwithout form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3And God said, c“Let there be light,” and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6And God said, d“Let there be an expanse1 in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7And God made2 the expanse and eseparated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were fabove the expanse. And it was so. 8And God called the expanse Heaven.3 And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
9And God said, g“Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10God called the dry land Earth,4 and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11And God said, h“Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants5 yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for isigns and for jseasons,6 and for days and years, 15and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16And God kmade the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18to lrule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
20And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds7 fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21So mGod created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22And God blessed them, saying, n“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26Then God said, o“Let us make man8 in our image, pafter our likeness. And qlet them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
rmale and female he created them.
28And God blessed them. And God said to them, s“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. tYou shall have them for food. 30And uto every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31vAnd God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
The Genealogy of Jesus Christ
1aThe book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, bthe son of David, cthe son of Abraham.
2dAbraham was the father of Isaac, and eIsaac the father of Jacob, and fJacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3and gJudah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,1 4and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5and Salmon the father of Boaz by hRahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6and iJesse the father of David the king.
And jDavid was the father of Solomon by kthe wife of Uriah, 7and lSolomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph,2 8and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, mand Joram the father of Uzziah, 9and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos,3 and Amos the father of Josiah, 11and nJosiah the father of oJechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
12And after the deportation to Babylon: pJechoniah was the father of qShealtiel,4 and rShealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16and Jacob the father of sJoseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
17So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to tthe Christ fourteen generations.
The Birth of Jesus Christ
18Now the birth of uJesus Christ5 took place in this way. vWhen his mother Mary had been betrothed6 to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child wfrom the Holy Spirit. 19And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling xto put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20But as he considered these things, behold, yan angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will bear a son, and zyou shall call his name Jesus, afor he will save his people from their sins.” 22bAll this took place cto fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23d“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name eImmanuel”
(which means, God fwith us). 24When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And ghe called his name Jesus.
The Proclamation of Cyrus
1aIn the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, bthat the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so cthat he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
2“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and dhe has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—ehe is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”
5Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, feveryone whose spirit gGod had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. 6And all who were about them haided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. 7iCyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that jNebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. 8Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of kMithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to lSheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 9And this was the number of them: m30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 1030 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels; 11all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
1In the first book, O aTheophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began bto do and teach, 2until the day when che was taken up, after he dhad given commands ethrough the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3fHe presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
4And while staying1 with them ghe ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5for hJohn baptized with water, hbut you will be baptized iwith2 the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
The Ascension
6So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, jwill you at this time krestore the kingdom to Israel?” 7He said to them, l“It is not for you to know mtimes or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8But you will receive npower owhen the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and pyou will be qmy witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and rSamaria, and sto the end of the earth.” 9And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, the was lifted up, and ua cloud took him out of their sight. 10And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, vtwo wmen stood by them in xwhite robes, 11and said, y“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, zwill acome in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas
12Then bthey returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. 13And when they had entered, they went up to cthe upper room, where they were staying, dPeter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon ethe Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14All these fwith one accord gwere devoting themselves to prayer, together with hthe women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and ihis brothers.3
15In those days Peter stood up among jthe brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16“Brothers, kthe Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, lwho became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17For mhe was numbered among us and was allotted his share in nthis ministry.” 18(Now this man oacquired a field with pthe reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong4 he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called qin their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20“For it is written in the Book of Psalms,
r“‘May his camp become desolate,
and let there be no one to dwell in it’;
and
s“‘Let another take his office.’
21So one of the men who have accompanied us during tall the time that the Lord Jesus uwent in and out among us, 22vbeginning from the baptism of John until the day when whe was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us xa witness to his resurrection.” 23And they put forward two, Joseph called yBarsabbas, who was also called zJustus, and aMatthias. 24And bthey prayed and said, “You, Lord, cwho know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25to take the place in dthis ministry and eapostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
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