Charles Spurgeon was a preacher in England during the nineteenth century. He has been called the “preacher of preachers” and during his humble lifetime on the earth - and in all the years since - God’s work through Him has brought - through the preaching of the cross - saving faith to millions.
For years I have made Spurgeon’s devotionals Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith and Morning & Evening part of my daily reading routine. I have many times, smiling, asked God to tell Spurgeon how much I appreciate the work he did that continues to reach so many today and blesses me every time I read absolutely anything he has written. I am currently finishing up a recent biography of his life, Spurgeon – a Life by Alex DiPrima, have purchased and started dipping into the vast volumes of his published sermons, as well as a few others of his books; Prayer & Spiritual Warfare and Only a Prayer Meeting. (I am a grazer when I read, always with several books going at the same time!).
In his preface to Morning & Evening, Spurgeon mentioned authors he read when it came to devotional reading, and one of them was a "Watson," and, so (of course!), I ordered G. D. Watson’s Our Own God and have just begun reading that. I have since learned that I had the wrong "Watson," as G. D. wrote after Spurgeon died, but this little misunderstanding was providential!* I have already given away three copies and just ordered eight more for the same purpose. He starts off in the first chapter:
"God is our nearest relative, from the very fact that he produced us out of nothing except the power of His own Word, and sustains us every moment from falling back into the dark gulf of nonexistence, which is virtually a perpetual act of creative love. He enters more minutely into our nature and lives than it is possible for any other being in all creation to do. No one can possibly love us as God does, because no one knows us so thoroughly, or has made such an investment in us, as our blessed Creator, our one and only true God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to whom be all glory, world without end. Amen.”
This morning, moving from my reading in this book to the Bible itself, I lit on Psalm 107, which goes through a series of three dire situations when people are laid low and in desperation and then cry out to the LORD, and He saves them. The three situations are:
1. Wandering in the wilderness without food, staggering, unable to find an inhabited city for food, shelter, and rest
2. Prisoners who are imprisoned – not unjustly – but because of their crimes
3. Sailors caught in a violent storm that threatens to destroy them
In all three cases, the people are driven to such desperation that they cry out to the LORD for deliverance, and He comes through marvelously, and this is the reason given in the Psalm: His lovingkindness.
The psalmic refrain in each of the three cases is this:
"Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness
And for His wonders to the sons of men!"
Then, these verses finally wrap up the song:
“When they are diminished and bowed down
through oppression, misery and sorrow,
He pours contempt upon princes
and makes them wander in a pathless waste.
But He sets the needy securely on high away from affliction,
and makes his families like a flock.
The upright see it and are glad;
but all unrighteousness shuts its mouth.
Who is wise?
Let him give heed to these things,
And consider the lovingkindnesses of the LORD.”
GOD IS LOVE
In the first book of John, John writes:
“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him,
and he in God.
We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” John 4:15-16
Not only is God love, but love is the singular impetus behind all He does, and love for Him is all He asks of us. Jesus said the greatest commandment of all is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30
In 1 John, John goes on to say, “We love, because He first loved us.”
Love is what drove God the Father to send Jesus Christ the Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins so that we can live in an eternal love union with Him. When all time on earth is over, there will be a great celebration in heaven, and it is called the “marriage supper of the Lamb.” (Rev 19). This is how deeply and intimately God loves those who are His.
Today in may places and from many people, God gets a bad rap. “His ways are confining.” “His actions are terrifying.” But consider that all of His ways – even His judgements and disciplines – have their deepest roots in love. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
"Who is wise?
Let him give heed to these things,
And consider the lovingkindnesses of the LORD.”
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Interested in knowing how to enter into a personal relationship with God through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Say a Salvation Prayer and Receive Jesus Christ Today. Of course, the saying of a prayer is the reflection of a monumental and life-changing heart decision, but this is a good guide. Feel free to contact me with any questions: rebecca.montrone@gmail.com
*The "Watson" Spurgeon was referring to was actually Thomas Watson, and now I'll have to check out his written works! So many books, so little time...!
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