Daily Devotion: Comfortable Words by Charles Spurgeon

Bible Reading: Zechariah 1:12-19 KJV

Key Verse:  "And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words."
- Zechariah 1:13 KJV

What a sweet answer to an anxious enquiry! This night let us rejoice in it. O Zion, there are good things in store for you; your time of travail shall soon be over; your children shall be brought forth; your captivity shall end. Bear patiently the rod for a season, and under the darkness—still trust in God, for His love burns towards you. God loves the church with a love too deep for human imagination. He loves her with all His infinite heart. Therefore let her sons be of good courage; she cannot be far from prosperity to whom God speaks "good words and comfortable words."

Daily Devotion: Possessing All Things by J.C. Philpot

Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:10-17 KJV 

Key Verse:  "As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things."
- 2 Corinthians 6:10 KJV

How do we possess all things? In possessing Christ who is heir of all things. If we possess Christ, what have we not in him? We have wisdom to teach us, righteousness to justify us, sanctification to make us holy, and redemption to deliver us from sin, death, and hell. If we have him, we have the favor and love of God; we have the pardon of our sins, the reconciliation of our persons, the casting behind God's back of all our backslidings, and a title to a heavenly crown. If we have him, we have everything in him, for Christ is ours, and Christ is God's. Therefore in him we possess all things. We shall have in providence things sufficient to carry us to the grave. He will give us everything that is for our good, and keep back nothing that is for our benefit. If we possess him, what have we not in him?

Daily Devotion: The Parables Of The Hidden Treasure by Favell Lee Mortimer

Bible Reading: Matthew 13:44-51 KJV 

Key Verse:  "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field."
- Matthew 13:44 KJV

We should be much astonished if a man were to show such eagerness to possess a common field, that he was willing to give any price for it. But if we afterwards found that he had discovered in it a mine of precious ore, we should not be surprised at his anxiety to obtain the field, even at a very high price.

Daily Devotion: I Do What I Hate by J. R. Miller

Bible Reading: Romans 7:14-21 KJV

Key Verse:  "For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I."
- Romans 7:15 KJV

Think of the brokenness, the incompleteness, the littleness, of these lives of ours! We get glimpses of beauty in character, which we are not able to attain! We have longings which seem to us too great ever to come true. We dream of things we want to do; but when we try to work them out, our clumsy hands cannot put them into realizations! We have glimmerings of a love that is very rich and tender, without a trace of selfishness, without envy or jealousy, without resentment—a love that seeks not its own, is not provoked, and bears all things. We get the vision from the life of Christ Himself. We say, "I will learn that lesson of love; I will be like that!" But we fail.

Daily Devotion: The Safe Refuge by John MacDuff

Bible Reading: Isaiah 32:1-8 KJV 

Key Verse:  "And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."
- Isaiah 32:2 KJV

"A man!" This first word forms the key to the precious verse, it is "The man Christ Jesus!" And when and where is He thus revealed to His people as their hiding place and shelter? It is, as with Elijah of old, in the whirlwind and the storm! Amid the world's bright sunshine, in the tranquil skies, uninterrupted prosperity — they seek Him not! But when the clouds begin to gather, and the sun is swept from the skies; when they have learned the insecurity of all earthly refuges — then the prayer ascends, "My heart is overwhelmed — lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." The Earthquake, the Tempest, the Fire — and then "the still small voice!"

Daily Devotion: Idle Words by J.E. Smith

Bible Reading: Matthew 12:30-36 KJV 

Key Verse:  "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment."
- Matthew 12:36 KJV

Words often seem small and fleeting. We speak them quickly and forget them just as fast. Yet Jesus teaches that no word is insignificant. An “idle word” is not merely a careless phrase, it is speech that is empty of purpose, truth, or grace. Heaven listens even when we are not paying attention.

Daily Devotion: This Life A Valley Of Tears by James Meikle

Bible Reading: 1 John 2:15-22 KJV 

Key Verse:  "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
- 1 John 2:15 KJV

Why have I mistaken this thorny wilderness—for a garden of flowers? Why have I mistaken this place of danger—for a palace of delight? Why have I mistaken this howling desert—for an enchanting grove? If the world has joys, it has none for me—they are carnal or unlawful. My joys must be pure and spiritual. If the creature affords pleasures, they cannot suit my soul—its honey is mixed with gall, its sweet with wormwood, its wine with water, its gold with dross—and all are mixed with poison. The pleasures I should seek are such as my soul may feed on without danger, feast on without excess, and rejoice in without sin.

Daily Devotion: Effectual Call of God by Wil Pounds

Bible Reading: John 6:44-51 KJV 

Key Verse:  "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."
- John 6:44 KJV

Have you responded to the effectual call of God to salvation? In his effort to encourage suffering Christians, the apostle Paul wrote, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30).

Daily Devotion: Love Your Neighbor by Octavius Winslow

Bible Reading: Matthew 5:41-48 KJV

Key Verse:  "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy."
- Matthew 5:43 KJV

"Love your neighbor." Perhaps he rolls in riches—and you are poor, and living in your little cottage side-by-side with his lordly mansion. Every day you see his estates, his fine linen, and his sumptuous banquets. God has given him these gifts, covet not his wealth, and think no hard thoughts concerning him. Be content with your own lot, if you cannot better it—but do not look upon your neighbor, and wish that he were as yourself. Love him—and then you will not envy him.

Daily Devotion: Showers Of Blessing by Charles Spurgeon

Bible Reading: Ezekiel 34:24-31 KJV 

Key Verse:  "And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing."
- Ezekiel 34:26 KJV

Here is sovereign grace, "I will send down showers." Is it not sovereign, divine mercy—for who can say, "I will send down showers," except God? There is only one voice which can speak to the clouds, and bid them beget the rain, "Who sends down the rain upon the earth? Who scatters the showers upon the green herb? Do not I, the Lord?" Grace is the gift of God—and is not to be created by man.

Daily Devotion: Christ Risen The Firstfruits by J.C. Philpot

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:20-27 KJV 

Key Verse:  "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept."
- 1 Corinthians 15:20 KJV

Christ risen is the firstfruits of that mighty crop of buried dead whose remains still sleep in the silent dust, and who will be joined by successive ranks of those who die in him, until all are together wakened up in the resurrection morn. The figure is that of the sheaf of the firstfruits which was waved before the Lord before the harvest was allowed to be reaped (Lev. 23:10, 11). This offering of the wave sheaf was the consecration and dedication of the whole crop in the field to the Lord, as well as the manifest pledge that the harvest was fully ripe for the reaper's sickle.

Daily Devotion: Parables Of The Mustard-Seed And Leaven by Favell Lee Mortimerw

Bible Reading: Matthew 13:31-35 KJV

Key Verse:  "Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:"
- Matthew 13:31-35 KJV

We will now consider several short parables that our Savior related, but of which he gave no interpretation; still we may endeavor from other parts of Scripture to discover their meaning. The seed of the mustard-tree is smaller in proportion to the size of the tree it produces, than any other seed. In eastern countries the mustard-tree has immense spreading branches, which afford a fit shelter for the birds.

Daily Devotion: Forgiveness by J.E. Smith

Bible Reading: Ephesians 4:25-32 KJV

Key Verse:  "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
- Ephesians 4:32 KJV

Forgiveness is one of the clearest marks of a heart transformed by grace. It does not come naturally to the flesh, which desires justice, vindication, and repayment. Yet Scripture teaches that forgiveness flows from remembering how much we ourselves have been forgiven by God.

Daily Devotion: A Hope Of Resurrection by J. R. Miller

Bible Reading: Acts 24:14-21 KJV 

Key Verse:  "And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust."
- Acts 24:15 KJV

A hope of resurrection to a believer in Christ—ought to be a wonderful inspiration in the earthly life. The grave is not the end; we shall come again from it in new beauty, and shall live on forever. Not only did Christ teach that the dead shall rise again—but he himself went down into the grave and then came out again, after three days, alive! Thus he showed the reality of resurrection; one man died and rose again, and may not all? But his resurrection meant more than that. He was the head of his people, and as such—his victory was for them. He met and conquered death for them.

Daily Devotion: A Loving Purpose by John MacDuff

Bible Reading: Psalm 35:21-28 KJV 

Key Verse:  "Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant."
- Psalm 35:27 KJV

What is "prosperity?" Is it threads of life weaved into a bright outcome? a full cup? ample riches? worldly applause? an unbroken circle? No! these are often a snare; received without gratitude; dimming the soul to its nobler destinies. Often spiritually, it rather means God taking us by the hand into the lowly Valleys of Humiliation; leading us as He did His servant Job of old; out of his sheep, oxen, camels, health, wealth, children; in order that we may be brought before Him in the dust, and say, "Blessed be His holy name!"

Daily Devotion: The Soul's Growth by James Meikle

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 13:11 KJV 

Key Verse:  "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."
- 1 Corinthians 13:11 KJV

When I look back a few years, I recollect, that my thoughts about common things were much contracted to what they are now. "When I was a child, I thought as a child;" for though I heard surrounding sounds, and the speeches of all about me, yet they were too vast for me to comprehend; nor could I convey my ideas to them in articulate words. Yes, when I rose a little from this infantile state, I could not shake myself free of my ignorance, nor from any proper notion of the embelting oceans, opposite poles, and the earth hung upon nothing. Still I knew nothing of the heavenly bodies, of the glorious sun, splendid moon, or sparkling stars; of the beauteous rainbow, falling showers, and flashing thunders. These things, then too sublime for me to think on, are now, in some sense, both intelligible and familiar; and this arises, not from any addition of new powers—but from an increase of the faculties of my soul.

Daily Devotion: Dying Daily and Our Life in Christ by Wil Pounds

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:31 KJV 

Key Verse:  "I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily." - 1 Corinthians 15:31 KJV

Spiritual growth is making real in our daily experience what is already true for us in Christ. Our progressive sanctification is an ever putting off all that belongs to the old man, and putting on all that belongs to the new man in Christ.

Daily Devotion: Sleep In Christ by Octavius Winslow

Bible Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:11-18 KJV 

Key Verse:  "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."
- 1 Thessalonians 4:14 KJV

Will it add nothing to the glory of that event, and to the happiness of that moment, when the Son of God descends, and, dissolving the soft slumbers of the holy dead, will reanimate each with its former occupant, that then we shall perfectly recognize those we once knew and loved, and renew the sweet communion, before imperfect and limited, but now complete and eternal? Dry, then, your tears, and cease to mourn, you saints of God. They are "not lost, but gone before." Their spirits live with Jesus. And when He comes, He will bring them with Him, and you shall see and know them with a cloudless sight and a perfect knowledge. The very eyes which once smiled upon you so kindly- the very tongue which spoke to you so comfortingly- the very hands which administered to you so skillfully- the very feet which traveled by your side so faithfully- the very bosom which pillowed you so tenderly- you shall meet again. "The coming of the Lord draws near," and those who "sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." Let us "comfort one another with these words."

Daily Devotion: Take Up The Cross And Follow Me by Charles Spurgeon

Bible Reading: Mark 10:19-26 KJV

Key Verse:  "Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me."
- Mark 10:21 KJV

You have not the liberty of making of your own cross; although unbelief is a master carpenter at cross-making. Neither are you permitted to choose your own cross; although self-will would gladly be lord and master. Your cross is prepared and appointed for you by divine love—and you are cheerfully to accept it. You are to take up the cross as your chosen portion, and not to stand caviling at it.

Daily Devotion: The Many Names of God the Father (2 of 2) by J.E. Smith

Bible Reading: Psalm 8:1-8 KJV 

Key Verse:  "O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens."
- Psalm 8:1 KJV

In the Bible names are far more than labels. They often reveal character, purpose, authority, covenant, and destiny. God uses names to teach spiritual truths and to show His intimate involvement in human lives. The same is true about God's names.

Daily Devotion: The Secret Place by J.C. Philpot

Bible Reading: Psalm 91:1-8 KJV 

Key Verse:  "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."
- Psalm 91:1 KJV

What is "the secret place of the most High?" It is the same spot, of which Asaph speaks in the seventy-third Psalm--"Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end." It is the spot, of which the Lord speaks in Ezekiel--"I will be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come." Then this "secret place" is the secret bosom of God. It is an entrance by faith into Jehovah, by a spiritual manifestation of him, leading us into a spiritual acquaintance with him. "The secret place of the most High" is that solemn spot, where Jehovah meets with the sinner in Christ, and where he opens up to him the riches of his mercy, and leads him into his bosom, so as to read the secrets of his loving heart.

Daily Devotion: Communicate The Word by Favell Lee Mortimer

Bible Reading: Mark 4:21-29 KJV 

Key Verse:  "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear."
- Mark 4:23 KJV

This is part of a private conversation between our Lord and his apostles. If our minds were in a right state, how much more deeply should we be interested in such scenes than in the worldly trifles that surround us.

Daily Devotion: Always Keep Your Appointments With Jesus by J. R. Miller

Bible Reading: Matthew 28:13-20 KJV 

Key Verse:  "Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them."
- Matthew 28:16 KJV

We should always keep the appointments Jesus makes with us. If we fail—we shall surely be the losers. Suppose some of our Lord's disciples had stayed away, for some cause, from this meeting in Galilee. Think what they would have missed! They might have said: "It is such a long distance;" or, "The mountain is steep, and I will have difficulty climbing it;" or, "I fear it will rain or be stormy;" or, "Perhaps Jesus will not be there; I cannot understand how he can be risen from the dead."

Daily Devotion: Sovreignty by John MacDuff

Bible Reading: Psalm 93:1-8 KJV 

Key Verse:  "The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved."
- Psalm 93:1 KJV

No rainbow of promise in the "dark and cloudy day" shines more radiantly than this. God, my God, the God who gave Jesus — orders all events, and overrules all for my good! "When I," says He, "send clouds over the earth." He has no wish to conceal the hand which shadows for a time earth's brightest prospects. It is He alike who "brings the cloud," who brings us into it, and in mercy leads us through it! His kingdom rules over all. "The lot is cast into the lap — but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord." He puts the burden on, and keeps it on — and at His own time will remove it!

Daily Devotion: Torment by James Meikle

Bible Reading: Luke 16:28 KJV 

Key Verse:  "For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment." - Luke 16:28 KJV

People generally have a mistaken notion of torment. I shudder to hear of protracted agonies on the dying malefactor—to hear of the rack, (invented by boundless rage, and improved by infernal cruelty,) decreed by the powerful offended party, to torture to death my fellow-creature. Yes, the groans of dying mortals pierce my ears, and make me sharer of their pains. But what are all human inventions—when we look beyond them, to eternal punishment? what is the glittering sword, or sharpened axe? What the musket, with its deadly explosion? What the gibbet, with ten thousand spectators? What the bastinado clubs, the stamping elephant, the quartering horses? What the piked barrels, the breaking wheel, the boots and thumbkins, the suffocating dungeon, or the calcinating flame? How do they all disappear before these words—DIVINE VENGEANCE—ETERNAL WRATH!

Daily Devotion: Feed My Sheep by J. R. Miller

Bible Reading: John 21:10-17 KJV 

Key Verse:  "He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep."
- John 21:17 KJV

You look into your life today and what do you see there? Failures, broken purposes, promises not kept, commandments violated, purity stained, everything sullied! Jesus comes and looks into your face, with that calm, holy, searching gaze of His, and says, "Do you love Me?" As you are about to answer, you think of all you have done that has been dishonorable and sinful. You are speechless before Him. Yet you are conscious that you do love Him; that in your heart, beneath all your sins, failures, and faults—there is love for Him. What a comfort it is to cast yourself on His knowledge of what is in you! Perhaps men sneer, and say that one who has stumbled as you have done—surely cannot love Christ. But Christ knows the love, even amid the sins and failures.

Daily Devotion: Dressed For The New Life by Wil Pounds

Bible Reading: Colossians 3:9-16 KJV 

Key Verse:  "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;"
- Colossians 3:9-12 KJV

Are you dressed in grave clothes or wedding garments? Now that we have been saved by grace how then shall we live? How are we to walk in this new life? The apostle Paul uses an illustration in terms of taking off one set of clothes and putting on another in Colossians 3:9-10. “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:”

Daily Devotion: The Many Names of God the Father (1 of 2) by J.E. Smith

Bible Reading: Psalm 9:7-14 

Key Verse:  "And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee." - Psalm 9:10 KJV

In the King James Version (KJV), the translators used different capitalization styles very deliberately to signal different underlying Hebrew or Greek words. Here is a concise breakdown:

Daily Devotion: Communion With Other In Glory by Octavius Winslow

Bible Reading: Hebrews 12:22-29 KJV 

Key Verse:  "To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect," - Hebrews 12:23 KJV

That the saints will recognize and have communion with each other immediately on their entrance into glory is, we think, clear from these words of the apostle, when enumerating the privileges of the released believers. We indulge, therefore, the fond hope that, should death remove us before the coming of the Lord, we shall meet, know, and have delightful communion with our friends who departed this life in Jesus.