Daily Devotion: In The Straitness Of Poverty by Octavius Winslow, 1870

Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 KJV

Key Verse:  "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich."
- 2 Corinthians 8:9 KJV

The wealth of Jesus, of which we have already spoken, was essential; His poverty, of which we are now to speak, was willingly assumed. "He became poor." By an act of unparalleled beneficence, He emptied Himself of His wealth and linked Himself with a life of dependent poverty. The only riches He retained--and these He scattered with a profuse and unbounded generosity--were the 'unsearchable riches of His grace', bestowed indiscriminately and freely upon the vilest of the race. So poor was He, holy women ministered to Him of their substance; and so homeless, the foxes had holes, and the birds of the air nests, but He, the Creator of the world, had not where to lay His head! "Consider Him."

Daily Devotion: Renew Your Strength by Charles Spurgeon

Bible Reading: Isaiah 41:1-15 KJV

Key Verse:  "Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment."
- Isaiah 41:1 KJV

All things on earth need to be renewed. No created thing continues by itself. "You renew the face of the year," was the Psalmist's utterance. Even the trees, which do not wear themselves with care, nor shorten their lives with labor—must drink of the rain of heaven, and suck from the hidden treasures of the soil. The cedars of Lebanon, which God has planted, only live because day by day they are full of sap freshly drawn from the earth. Neither can man's life be sustained without renewal from God. As it is necessary to repair the waste of the body by the frequent meals—so we must repair the waste of the soul by feeding upon the Book of God, or by listening to the preached Word, or by the soul-fattening table of the ordinances. How weak are our graces when means are neglected! What poor starvelings some saints are—who live without the diligent use of the Word of God and secret prayer! If our piety can live without God—it is not of divine creating; it is but a dream; for if God had begotten it, it would wait upon Him as the flowers wait upon the dew.

Daily Devotion: Fountain of Life by J.C. Philpot

Bible Reading: Psalm 88 KJV

Key Verse:  "[10] Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah. [11] Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?"

- Psalm 88:10-11 KJV

This is not the language of a soul dead in trespasses and sins, but it is the breathing of a living soul struggling and grappling with death. What a difference there is, where there is life working in and under death, and where death reigns absolutely! between the quickened soul and that in which there is nothing but death--death without one spark of spiritual life, death without one ray of heavenly teaching. There is no groan, no sigh, no lamentation, no piteous inquiry, no pouring out of the heart before God, where the soul is utterly dead, any more than there is life and breath in a corpse in the tomb.

Daily Devotion: The Testimony of John by Favell Lee Mortimer (1802 - 1878)

Bible Reading: John 1:10-25 KJV 

Key Verse:  "[14] And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. [15] John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. [16] And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. [17] For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."
- John 1:14-18 KJV

In the beginning of this chapter we read of a great wonder, that the Word was with God, and yet was God. We cannot understand how this could be. In this passage we read of another wonder, yet we are so much accustomed to hear it, that we almost forget to consider the greatness of the wonder, "The Word was made flesh." God became man; he "dwelt among us."

When we look around us at this great world, and at the heavens spangled with stars, and think that He who made all these things became a weak man, who ate, drank, and slept like ourselves—do we not feel amazed? We may well inquire why God became a man, and dwelt among us?

Daily Devotion: My Disciples by J. R. Miller, 1895

Bible Reading: John 8:30-45 KJV 

Key Verse:  "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;"

- John 8:31 KJV

It is not enough to begin; continuance is necessary. Mere enrollment will not make one a scholar; the pupil must continue in the school through all the long course, until he has mastered every branch. One who has observed the course of men for many years, says that success in life depends upon staying power. The reason for failure in most cases—is lack of perseverance. Men get tired and give up. There are thousands who begin to follow Christ—but who, when discouragements come, faint and drop out.

Daily Devotion: A Divine Challenge by John MacDuff, 1864

Bible Reading: Jeremiah 33:15-26 KJV

Key Verse:  "[20] Thus saith the Lord; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; [21] Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers."
- Jeremiah 33:20-21 KJV

It is remarkable how often God's revealed thoughts have for their theme, the immutability of His covenant; as if the contemplation of His own inviolable faithfulness formed the mightiest of all topics of comfort and consolation for His believing people. Here He makes a solemn appeal to the constancy of the natural world — as a pledge and guarantee of His unchanging fidelity in spiritual things. Nothing seems so undeviating as the succession of day and night — the revolution of the seasons. The sun sinking at eventide in the golden west, and rising again like a giant refreshed. "While the earth remains," said the Great Creator over His own world, as it emerged of old from the waters of the Deluge, "seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."

Daily Devotion: Submission by James Meikle, 1730-1799

Bible Reading: Hebrews 13:15-25 KJV 

Key Verse:  “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”
- Hebrews 13:17 KJV

Will any, or will I, pretend to teach the Most High knowledge, seeing he is excellent in all his working, and perfect in all his ways? Then, since I cannot direct him, why am not I submissive to his disposal? Can I predict events, or foresee futurities? No! How then can I promise myself serenity from a cloudless sky? or fear storms from an obscured heaven? when, as to the first, the gathering meteors may suspend an unexpected shadow before the sun; or, as to the second, the gathered clouds may scatter, and let the welcome beams refresh the weary world. So, Lord, as from present appearances, future contingencies cannot be discerned—it is my duty, and shall be my study, to be WHOLLY, FULLY, and FOREVER, at your disposal, to whom all your works, all my purposes, and all my wanderings, are known from the beginning!