Daily Devotions From Faith's Checkbook

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.       March 26 The Care of the Poor The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing. (Psalm 41:3)  Remember that this is a promise to the man who considers the poor. Are you one of these? Then take home the text. See how in the hour of sickness the God of the poor will bless the man who cares for the poor! The everlasting arms shall stay up his soul as friendly hands and downy pillows stay up the body of the sick. How tender and sympathizing is this image; how near it brings our God to our infirmities and sicknesses! Whoever heard this of the old heathen Jove, or of the gods of India or China! This is language peculiar to the God of Israel; He it is who deigns to become nurse and attendant upon good men. If He smites with one hand, He sustains with the other. Oh, it is

  Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.       March 25 Refreshing Sleep When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. (Proverbs 3:24)  Is the reader likely to be confined for a while to the bed by sickness! Let him go upstairs without distress with this promise upon his heart "When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid." When we go to bed at night, let this word smooth our pillow. We cannot guard ourselves in sleep, but the Lord will keep us through the night. Those who lie down under the protection of the Lord are as secure as kings and queens in their palaces, and a great deal more so. If with our lying down there is a laying down of all cares and ambitions, we shall get refreshment out of our beds such as the anxious and covetous never find in th

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.       March 24 Established and Kept But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. (2 Thessalonians 3:3)  Men are often as devoid of reason as of faith. There are with us still "unreasonable and wicked men." There is no use in arguing with them or trying to be at peace with them: they are false at heart and deceitful in speech. Well, what of this? Shall we worry ourselves with them? No; let us turn to the Lord, for He is faithful. No promise from His Word will ever be broken. He is neither unreasonable in His demands upon us nor unfaithful to our claims upon Him. We have a faithful God. Be this our joy. He will stablish us so that wicked men shall not cause our downfall, and He will keep us so that none of the evils which now assail us shall really do

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.      March 23 A Sure Guide I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not. (Isaiah 42:16)  Think of the infinitely glorious Jehovah acting as a Guide to the blind! What boundless condescension does this imply! A blind man cannot find a way which he does not know. Even when he knows the road, it is hard for him to traverse it; but a road which he has not known is quite out of the question for his unguided feet. Now, we are by nature blind as to the way of salvation, and yet the Lord leads us into it and brings us to Himself, and then opens our eyes. As to the future, we are all of us blind and cannot see an hour before us; but the Lord Jesus will lead us even to our journey's end. Blessed be His name! We cannot guess in which way deliverance can possibly come to us, but the Lord

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.      March 22 Grace for the Humble He giveth grace unto the humble. (James 4:6)  Humble hearts seek grace, and therefore they get it. Humble hearts yield to the sweet influences of grace, and so it is bestowed on them more and more largely. Humble hearts lie in the valleys where streams of grace are flowing, and hence they drink of them. Humble hearts are grateful for grace and give the Lord the glory of it, and hence it is consistent with His honor to give it to them. Come, dear reader, take a lowly place. Be little in thine own esteem, that the Lord may make much of thee. Perhaps the sigh breaks out, "I fear I am not humble." It may be that this is the language of true humility. Some are proud of being humble, and this is one of the very worst sorts of pride. We are needy, helples

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.      March 21 Avoid That Slip Then shalt thou walk in the way of safety, and thy foot shall not stumble. (Proverbs 3:23) That is to say, if we follow the ways of wisdom and holiness we shall be preserved in them. He who travels by daylight along the highway is under some protection. There is a way for every man, namely, his own proper calling in life, and if we devoutly walk therein in the fear of God He will preserve us from evil. We may not travel luxuriously, but we shall walk safely. We may not be able to run like young men, but we shall be able to walk like good men. Our greatest danger lies in ourselves: our feeble foot is so sadly apt to stumble. Let us ask for more moral strength that our tendency to slip may be overcome. Some stumble because they do not see the stone in the way: divine gr

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.     March 20 Divine Provision Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? (Matthew 6:30)  Clothes are expensive, and poor believers may be led into anxiety as to where their next suit will come from. The soles are thin; how shall we get new shoes? See how our thoughtful Lord has provided against this care. Our heavenly Father clothes the grass of the field with a splendor such as Solomon could not equal: will He not clothe His own children? We are sure He will. There may be many a patch and a darn, but raiment we shall have. A poor minister found his clothes nearly threadbare, and so far gone that they would hardly hold together; but as a servant of the Lord he expected hi

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.     March 19 Becoming Fit for Glory The Lord will give grace and glory. (Psalm 84:11)  Grace is what we need just now, and it is to be had freely. What can be freer than a gift? Today we shall receive sustaining, strengthening, sanctifying, satisfying grace. He has given daily grace until now, and as for the future, that grace is still sufficient. If we have but little grace the fault must lie in ourselves; for the Lord is not straitened, neither is He slow to bestow it in abundance. We may ask for as much as we will and never fear a refusal. He giveth liberally and upbraideth not. The Lord may not give gold, but He will give grace: He may not give gain, but He will give grace. He will certainly send us trial, but He will give grace in proportion thereto. We may be called to labor and to

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.     March 18 Continue Upright The prayer of the upright is his delight. (Proverbs 15:8)  This is as good as a promise, for it declares a present fact, which will be the same throughout all ages. God takes great pleasure in the prayers of upright men; He even calls them His delight. Our first concern is to be upright. Neither bending this way nor that, continue upright; not crooked with policy, nor prostrate by yielding to evil, be you upright in strict integrity and straightforwardness. If we begin to shuffle and shift, we shall be left to shift for ourselves. If we try crooked ways, we shall find that we cannot pray, and if we pretend to do so, we shall find our prayers shut out of heaven. Are we acting in a straight line and thus following out the Lord's revealed will? Then let us pray

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.     March 17 Fear to Fear Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 1:8) Whenever fear comes in and makes us falter, we are in danger of falling into sin. Conceit is to be dreaded, but so is cowardice. "Dare to be a Daniel." Our great Captain should be served by brave soldiers. What a reason for bravery is here! God is with those who are with Him. God will never be away when the hour of struggle comes. Do they threaten you? Who are you that you should be afraid of a man that shall die? Will you lose your situation? Your God whom you serve will find bread and water for His servants. Can you not trust Him? Do they pour ridicule upon you? Will this break your bones or your heart? Bear it for Christ's sake, and even rejoice because of it. God is w

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.     March 16 To Others an "Ensample" Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. (Philippians 4:9)  It is well when a man can with advantage be so minutely copied as Paul might have been. Oh, for grace to imitate him this day and every day! Should we, through divine grace, carry into practice the Pauline teaching, we may claim the promise which is now open before us; and what a promise it is! God, who loves peace, makes peace, and breathes peace, will be with us. "Peace be with you" is a sweet benediction; but for the God of peace to be with us is far more. Thus we have the fountain as well as the streams, the sun as well as his beams. If the God of peace be with us, we shall enjoy the peace of God which p

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.     March 15 God is a Sanctuary Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. (Ezekiel 11:16)  Banished from the public means of grace, we are not removed from the grace of the means. The Lord who places His people where they feel as exiles will Himself be with them and be to them all that they could have had at home, in the place of their solemn assemblies. Take this to yourselves, O ye who are called to wander! God is to His people a place of refuge. They find sanctuary with Him from every adversary, He is their place of worship, too. He is with them as with Jacob when he slept in the open field, and r

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.     March 14 Tender Comfort As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you. (Isaiah 66:13)  A mother's comfort! Ah, this is tenderness itself. How she enters into her child's grief! How she presses him to her bosom and tries to take all his sorrow into her own heart! He can tell her all, and she will sympathize as nobody else can. Of all comforters the child loves best his mother, and even full-grown men have found it so. Does Jehovah condescend to act the mother's part? This is goodness indeed. We readily perceive how He is a father; but will He be as a mother also? Does not this invite us to holy familiarity, to unreserved confidence, to sacred rest? When God Himself becomes "the Comforter," no anguish can long abide. Let us tell out our trouble, even though sobs and sighs sh

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.     March 13 Despise Not Thy Youth Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold I cannot speak; for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. (Jeremiah 1:6-7)  Jeremiah was young and felt a natural shrinking when sent upon a great errand by the Lord; but He who sent him would not have him say, "I am a child." What he was in himself must not be mentioned but lost in the consideration that he was chosen to speak for God. He had not to think out and invent a message nor to choose an audience: he was to speak what God commanded and speak where God sent him, and this he would be enabled to do in strength not his own. Is it not so with some young preacher or teacher who may read these li

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.    March 12 Going Out with Joy And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out. (Deuteronomy 33:18)  The blessings of the tribes are ours; for we are the true Israel who worship God in the spirit and have no confidence in the flesh. Zebulun is to rejoice because Jehovah will bless his "going out"; we also see a promise for ourselves lying latent in this benediction. When we go out we will look out for occasions of joy. We go out to travel, and the providence of God is our convoy. We go out to emigrate, and the Lord is with us both on land and sea. We go out as missionaries, and Jesus saith, "Lo, I am with you unto the end of the world." We go out day by day to labor, and we may do so with pleasure, for God will be with us from morn till eve. A fear sometimes creeps over us when sta

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.    March 11 Whose Battle? And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. (1 Samuel 17:47)  Let this point be settled, that the battle is the Lord's, and we may be quite sure of the victory, and of the victory in such a way as will best of all display the power of God. The Lord is too much forgotten by all men, yea, even by the assemblies of Israel; and when there is an opportunity to make men see that the great First Cause can achieve His purposes without the power of man, it is a priceless occasion which should be well employed. Even Israel looks too much to sword and spear. It is a grand thing to have no sword in the hand of David, and yet for David to know that his God will overthrow a whole

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.    March 10 Walk in Light I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. (John 12:46)  This world is dark as midnight; Jesus has come that by faith we may have light and may no longer sit in the gloom which covers all the rest of mankind. Whosoever is a very wide term: it means you and me. If we trust in Jesus we shall no more sit in the dark shadow of death but shall enter into the warm light of a day which shall never end. Why do we not come out into the light at once? A cloud may sometimes hover over us, but we shall not abide in darkness if we believe in Jesus. He has come to give us broad daylight. Shall He come in vain?  If we have faith, we have the privilege of sunlight: let us enjoy it. From the night of natural depravity, of ignor

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.   March 9 Prayer for Peace And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pay unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. (Jeremiah 29:7)  The principle involved in this text would suggest to all of us who are the Lord's strangers and foreigners that we should be desirous to promote the peace and prosperity of the people among whom we dwell. Specially should our nation and our city be blest by our constant intercession. An earnest prayer for your country and other countries is well becoming in the mouth of every believer. Eagerly let us pray for the great boon of peace, both at home and abroad. If strife should cause bloodshed in our streets, or if foreign battle should slay our brave soldiers, we should all bewail the calamity; le

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.   March 8 Our Substance Blessed Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. (Deuteronomy 28:5)  Obedience brings a blessing on all the provisions which our industry earns for us. That which comes in and goes out at once, like fruit in the basket which is for immediate use, shall be blest; and that which is laid by with us for a longer season shall equally receive a blessing. Perhaps ours is a hand-basket portion. We have a little for breakfast and a scanty bite for dinner in a basket when we go out to do our work in the morning. This is well, for the blessing of God is promised to the basket. If we live from hand to mouth, getting each day's supply in the day, we are as well off as Israel; for when the Lord entertained His favored people He only gave them a day's manna at a time. What more did they

Daily Devotions from Charles Spurgeon, read by Doug Smith.  To read the entire book online, visit spurgeon.org.  For more information about the program, visit brotherdougsmith.wordpress.com.  March 7 From Fetters Free The Lord looseth the prisoner. (Psalm 146:7)  He has done it. Remember Joseph, Israel in Egypt, Manasseh, Jeremiah, Peter, and many others. He can do it still. He breaks the bars of brass with a word and snaps the fetters of iron with a look. He is doing it. In a thousand places troubled ones are coming forth to light and enlargement. Jesus still proclaims the opening of the prison to them that are bound. At this moment doors are flying back and fetters are dropping to the ground. He will delight to set you free, dear friend, if at this time you are mourning because of sorrow, doubt, and fear. It will be joy to Jesus to give you liberty. It will give Him as great a pleasure to loose you as it will be a pleasure to you to be loosed. No, you have not to snap the iron hand: the