Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Prayer is crucial in our war against sin and Satan. In fact, it’s our direct access to God. So why do many of us head into battle without this critical weapon? Why aren’t we praying? Hear a challenging message from Alistair Begg on Truth For Life.
From the Sermon
Recognition and Response
When the figure standing on the shore told the fishermen to cast their net on the other side of the boat—and when those fishermen saw that, having caught nothing all night, their nets were now bulging—they began to recognize who it was who had called out to them. Perhaps until now they had been supernaturally kept from identifying Him, like the men on the Emmaus road (Luke 24:16). Or perhaps the early morning mist or the distance from land to the boat was what kept them from fully recognizing their Savior.
Whichever was the case, it was not long before John, “that disciple whom Jesus loved,” realized who had spoken to them—and as soon as he shared his dawning insight with Peter, Peter launched into action. John’s recognition and Peter’s reaction make up a partnership that beautifully displays God’s intent for complementary diversity. God takes the Johns and the Peters of this world, and He puts them together so that they may be what they cannot be on their own. Throughout John’s Gospel, we see John display a contemplative, steady faith. When he and Peter visited the empty tomb, he considered the meaning of graveclothes lying empty where a body should have been, and he believed (John 20:8). His declaration from the boat likewise reveals a man who did not consider his circumstances hastily but rather pondered them and then confidently believed. When John realized it was Jesus before him, he made that known to Peter. Peter responded to John’s recognition as he often did: by taking faith-filled, impassioned, immediate action. You can just imagine him jumping into the water and then thrashing about, half swimming, half walking, straining desperately to get to his Savior on the shore. He showed no hesitation in getting out of the boat. His only thought was to reach his Lord.
Without the contemplative, insightful nature of Johns, the Peters of this world would burn out in feverish activity. Without the boldness of Peters, the Johns of this world would waste away in introspection. We all need partners to serve Christ well. Whether you are a Peter or a John, or whatever your particular temperament, God made you as you are to serve a purpose in His kingdom. Many of us spend too much time wishing we were more like others. Others of us have no problem recognizing our personality type or particular strengths, but we do have a problem with humbly using them in the service of others or with being patient with the ways of others who are different from us. What would change in how you see yourself and your purpose if you realized that every aspect of your temperament is God-given, and that God intends for you to use it not for your own ends but in obedience to Him, in the company of His people, for the glory of His Son?
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?
One Body with Many Members
12For just as ithe body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, jso it is with Christ. 13For kin one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—lJews or Greeks, slaves4 or free—and mall were made to drink of one Spirit.
14For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18But as it is, nGod arranged the members in the body, each one of them, oas he chose. 19If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts,5 yet one body.
21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, pall rejoice together.
27Now qyou are the body of Christ and individually rmembers of it.
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.
Make Restitution
If fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution.
But what restitution can be made by one who throws the firebrands of error or stirs the coals of lust and sets the souls of men ablaze with the fire of hell? The guilt is beyond estimate, and the result is irretrievable. Even if such an offender is forgiven, he will still experience grief in recognizing that he cannot undo the effects of his foolish behavior! A bad example may kindle a flame that years of amended character cannot quench. To burn the harvest is bad enough, but how much worse to destroy the eternal harvest! It may be useful for us to consider how guilty we may have been in the past, and to consider whether, even in the present, there might not be evil in us that has a tendency to cause damage to the souls of our relatives, friends, or neighbors.
The fire of conflict is a terrible evil when it breaks out in a Christian church. Where there are converts, and God is glorified, you will discover jealousy and envy doing the devil's work most effectively. Where the golden grain of blessing was being stored to reward the work of the servants, the fire of enmity comes in and leaves little else but smoke and a heap of blackness. Woe to those by whom offenses come. May they never come through us, for although we cannot make restitution, we shall certainly be the chief sufferers if we are the chief offenders.
Those who feed the fire deserve fair criticism, but the one who first kindles it is most to blame. Discord usually takes hold first among the thorns; it is nurtured among the hypocrites and empty professors in the church and leaps among the righteous, blown by the winds of hell, until no one knows where it may end. O Lord, the giver of peace, make us peacemakers, and never let us aid and abet the men of strife, or even unintentionally cause the slightest division among Your people.
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 August 24
David Anointed King
1The Lord said to Samuel, r“How long will you grieve over Saul, since sI have rejected him from being king over Israel? tFill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, ufor I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, v‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. wAnd you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” 4Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city xcame to meet him trembling and said, y“Do you come peaceably?” 5And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. zConsecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6When they came, he looked on aEliab and thought, “Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.” 7But the Lord said to Samuel, b“Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, cbut the Lord looks on the heart.” 8Then Jesse called dAbinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9Then Jesse made dShammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, e“There remains yet the youngest,1 but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, f“Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12And he sent and brought him in. Now he was gruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, h“Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13Then Samuel took ithe horn of oil jand anointed him in the midst of his brothers. kAnd the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
David in Saul's Service
14lNow the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, mand a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15And Saul's servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16Let our lord now command your servants nwho are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will oplay it, and you will be well.” 17So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, pa man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, qand the Lord is with him.” 19Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, rwho is with the sheep.” 20sAnd Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21And David came to Saul tand entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23And uwhenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre oand played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.
Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another
1As for mthe one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2nOne person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and olet not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4pWho are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master1 that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5qOne person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. rEach one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since she gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For tnone of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, uwhether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 9For to this end Christ vdied and lived again, that he might be Lord both wof the dead and of the living.
10Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For wwe will all stand before xthe judgment seat of God; 11for it is written,
y“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess2 to God.”
12So then zeach of us will give an account of himself to God.
Do Not Cause Another to Stumble
13aTherefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide bnever to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus cthat nothing is unclean in itself, dbut it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, eyou are no longer walking in love. fBy what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16gSo do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17hFor the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but iof righteousness and jpeace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18Whoever thus serves Christ is kacceptable to God and approved by men. 19So then let us lpursue what makes for peace and for mmutual upbuilding.
20nDo not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. oEverything is indeed clean, but pit is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21qIt is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.3 22The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. rBlessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.4
How Lonely Sits the City
1aHow lonely sits the city
that was full of people!
How like ba widow has she become,
she who was great among the nations!
She who was ca princess among the provinces
has become da slave.
2eShe weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
famong all her lovers
she has gnone to comfort her;
hall her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
they have become her enemies.
3iJudah has gone into exile because of affliction1
and hard servitude;
jshe dwells now among the nations,
kbut finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.2
4The roads to Zion mourn,
for none come to lthe festival;
mall her gates are desolate;
her priests ngroan;
her virgins have been afflicted,3
and she herself suffers bitterly.
5oHer foes have become the head;
her penemies prosper,
because qthe Lord has afflicted her
rfor the multitude of her transgressions;
sher children have gone away,
captives before the foe.
6From the daughter of Zion
all her majesty has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
tthat find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer.
7Jerusalem remembers
in the days of her affliction and wandering
uall the precious things
that were hers from vdays of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the foe,
and there was none to help her,
her foes gloated over her;
they wmocked at her downfall.
8xJerusalem sinned grievously;
therefore she became filthy;
all who honored her despise her,
yfor they have seen her nakedness;
she herself zgroans
and turns her face away.
9Her uncleanness was ain her skirts;
bshe took no thought of her future;4
therefore her fall is terrible;
cshe has no comforter.
“O Lord, behold my affliction,
for the enemy has dtriumphed!”
10The enemy has stretched out his hands
over all her eprecious things;
for she has seen fthe nations
enter her sanctuary,
those whom you gforbade
to enter your congregation.
11All her people zgroan
as hthey search for bread;
they trade their etreasures for ifood
to revive their strength.
“Look, O Lord, and see,
for I am despised.”
12“Is it nothing to you, all jyou who pass by?
kLook and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me,
which lthe Lord inflicted
on mthe day of his fierce anger.
13“From on high he nsent fire;
into my bones5 he made it descend;
ohe spread a net for my feet;
he turned me back;
phe has left me stunned,
faint all the day long.
14“My transgressions were bound6 into qa yoke;
by his hand they were fastened together;
they were set upon my neck;
he caused my strength to fail;
the Lord gave me into the hands
of those whom I cannot withstand.
15“The Lord rejected
all my mighty men in my midst;
he summoned an assembly against me
to crush my young men;
rthe Lord has trodden as in a winepress
the virgin daughter of Judah.
16“For these things sI weep;
my eyes flow with tears;
for ta comforter is far from me,
one to urevive my spirit;
my children are desolate,
for the enemy has prevailed.”
17vZion stretches out her hands,
but tthere is none to comfort her;
the Lord has commanded against Jacob
that his neighbors should be his foes;
Jerusalem has become
a filthy thing among them.
18w“The Lord is in the right,
xfor I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and see my suffering;
ymy young women and my young men
have gone into captivity.
19“I called to zmy lovers,
but they deceived me;
my priests and elders
perished in the city,
while athey sought food
to revive their strength.
20“Look, O Lord, for I am in distress;
bmy stomach churns;
my heart is wrung within me,
because I have been very rebellious.
cIn the street the sword bereaves;
in the house it is like death.
yet ethere is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
fthey are glad that you have done it.
You have brought8 the day you announced;
fnow let them be as I am.
22g“Let all their evildoing come before you,
and deal with them
as hyou have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions;
for dmy groans are many,
and imy heart is faint.”
Blessed Are the Forgiven
A Maskil1 of David.
1jBlessed is the one whose ktransgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2Blessed is the man against whom the Lord lcounts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit mthere is no deceit.
3For when I kept silent, my nbones wasted away
through my ogroaning all day long.
4For day and night your phand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up2 as by the heat of summer. Selah
5I qacknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I rwill confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
6Therefore let everyone who is sgodly
offer prayer to you at a time when you tmay be found;
surely in the rush of ugreat waters,
they shall not reach him.
7You are a vhiding place for me;
you preserve me from wtrouble;
you surround me with xshouts of deliverance. Selah
8I will yinstruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will zcounsel you with my eye upon you.
9aBe not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
which must be curbed with bbit and bridle,
or it will not stay near you.
10cMany are the sorrows of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds the one who dtrusts in the Lord.
11eBe glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,
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