Pray with Spurgeon

Daily Newsletter from SpurgeonBooks

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because his seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God.” (1 John 3:9)

We are born again, and by that means we are delivered from the power of corruption. The new nature having no depravity in it, nor tendency to sin, is able to resist sin because it is fathered by God. The moment the heavenly life is implanted, it begins to be at war with the old nature and continues to struggle violently with it. There is a deadly enmity between the two; the new nature will never be reconciled to the old or the old one to the new, but the new will conquer and overcome the evil.

Who can estimate the privilege of receiving a heaven-born nature that, however weak and feeble it may be at first, is ever-living, and by the power of God will gain the ultimate victory? Let us then rejoice and be glad!

PRAY FOR THE NATIONS

This week, we’re praying for the Idaksahak in Mali.

The Idaksahak are a mostly nomadic people — they travel throughout the year instead of living in permanent homes. Forming relationships with them for the spread of the gospel will be challenging.

Pray that God would give wisdom to the missionaries in Mali.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

CMaking Jesus the Center of Midlife*

To a culture that idolizes youth, the Bible offers a radical, counter-cultural cry: There is more value in the wisdom of age than the strength of youthfulness. People in their 50’s and 60’s may not be able to be as physically active as they were 30 years ago, but this slight decline has been ABUNDANTLY more compensated for by their growth in wisdom.

Because the world around us is so confused about aging, we need a lot of help to understand how to follow God as we age. This is a uniquely challenging problem because, as life expectancy and quality are increasing so much, our category of “mid-life” is relatively new, so there aren’t a lot of Christian resources to help us navigate this stage of life with wisdom.

And that’s why this new book by Christopher Ash is so important: Not Old, Not Young, Not Done: Following Jesus in Your 50s and 60s.

Ash challenges readers to rethink the way we view our 50’s and 60’s — not as a time to kick-back and enjoy all that we’ve “earned,” but to intentionally grow in godliness and serve Christ. In a world that is constantly clamoring for people in their 50’s and 60’s to spend more every year on cruises and cars, Not Old, Not Young, Not Done has an important message for Christians.

Order Not Old, Not Young, Not Done at a discount with code SPURGEON.

FAITH’S CHECKBOOK

Spurgeon’s classic devotional, The Chequebook of the Bank of Faith, contains a promise of God for every day of the year. Pray with Spurgeon Plus subscribers receive the daily readings every weekday.

If you want to strengthen your faith in God’s promises (and support this ministry!), subscribe to Pray with Spurgeon Plus here.

“Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.” (John 6:57)

We live by virtue of our union with the Son of God. As the mediator between God and man, the Lord Jesus lives by the self-existent Father who has sent him and in the same manner we live by the Savior who has given us life. He who is the source of our life is also the sustainer of it. Living is sustained by feeding; we must support the spiritual life by spiritual food, and that spiritual food is the Lord Jesus—not his life, or death, or offices, or work, or word alone, but Jesus himself, including all these. We feed on Jesus himself.

This is set forth to us in the Lord’s Supper, but it is actually enjoyed by us when we meditate upon our Lord, believe in him with real faith, take him into ourselves by love, and assimilate him by the power of the inner life. We know what it means to feed on Jesus, but we cannot speak it or write it. Our wisest course is to practice it and to do so more and more. We are entreated to eat abundantly and it will be to our infinite profit to do so when Jesus is our meat and our drink.

Lord, I thank you that this, which is a necessity of my new life, is also its greatest delight.

Something to think about today if you’re feeling empty: Jesus invites you to draw near and enjoy his fullness.