Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
There are moments in life when bad news brings us to our knees. Prayers aren’t always answered as hoped, though—so how do we continue to trust God? Listen to Truth For Life with Alistair Begg to learn how a devastated prophet turned from doubting to rejoicing.
From the Sermon
Joy in Our Trials
For a long time, I have imagined that I see everybody with a wheelbarrow. I have a wheelbarrow too. We push them around, and inside are our trials, temptations, fears, failures, disappointments, heartaches, and longings. These are the things that wake us and then keep us awake at three o’clock in the morning.
Living in this world places demands upon us, confronts us with challenges, and buffets us in ways that are painful and sorrowful. When we face these difficulties, often we are told to deny them, conceal them, shoo them away, or live above them. All the while, we’re tempted to resent our trials and grow more and more bitter.
The biblical perspective on hardship differs greatly from all of these options. James said that it is possible to know pure, complete joy in our trials. How can this possibly be? Receiving joy in trials seems to be an absolute contradiction. Most of 21st-century Western life is lived in such a way as to keep trials at bay. It seems obvious that the way to joy is to avoid trials.
James, however, tells us that the way in which we can “count it all joy” is not by moving ourselves into a citadel where troubles are absent but through having our attitudes to those troubles transformed. In saying “for you know,” he is reminding us that we have to bring our feelings under the rule of what we know to be true. And what do we know? That faith by itself does not develop perseverance. True faith is proven and strengthened when it is tested. The things we seek to avoid are the very things that make us.
We have to be honest about the trials we face. We are not yet in heaven, and so our faith is still being tested. It’s not revealed in some blissful, otherworldly experience but in the rough and tumble of everyday life. And the testing of true faith will always produce steadfastness. It will make us more like Jesus. It will make us more able to comfort others. Therefore, we can trust that through all our difficulties God will continue to fashion in us a faith that is perfect and complete. It is as we hold on to that promise that we are able to “count it all joy” as a trial looms ahead or we realize we are deep in one already. We are able to think, “I would not have chosen this path, but the Lord has, and He is going to use it to show me more of Himself and to make me more like Him.”
What is in your wheelbarrow today? They are things you would not have chosen. But what would change if you saw them as opportunities for your faith to be tested, strengthened, and perfected? That is the path to deeper, unconquerable joy.
How is God calling me to think differently?
How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?
What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?
Peace with God Through Faith
1aTherefore, since we have been justified by faith, bwe1 have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2Through him we have also cobtained access by faith2 into this grace din which we stand, and ewe3 rejoice4 in hope of the glory of God. 3Not only that, but we frejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering gproduces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hhope does not put us to shame, because God's love ihas been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
6For jwhile we were still weak, at the right time kChrist died for the ungodly. 7For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8but lGod shows his love for us in that mwhile we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Since, therefore, nwe have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from othe wrath of God. 10For if pwhile we were enemies qwe were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by rhis life. 11More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received sreconciliation.
Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg, published by The Good Book Company, thegoodbook.com. Used by Truth For Life with permission. Copyright © 2021, 2022, The Good Book Company.
A Holy Calling
And those whom he predestined he also called.
In the second letter to Timothy, first chapter and ninth verse, we read these words: “who saved us and called us to a holy calling.” Now here is a touchstone by which we may test our calling. It is “a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace.” This calling forbids all trust in our own doings and turns us to Christ alone for salvation, but it afterwards purges us from dead works to serve the living and true God.
As He who called you is holy, so must you be holy. If you are living in sin, you are not called; but if you are truly Christ's, you can say, “Nothing pains me so much as sin; I desire to be rid of it. Lord, help me to be holy.” Is this the longing of your heart? Is this the substance of your life toward God and His divine will? Again, in Philippians 3:13-14 we are told of “the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Is your calling an upward call? Has it refined your heart and focused it upon heavenly things? Has it elevated your hopes, your tastes, your desires? Has it raised the constant tenor of your life, so that you spend it with God and for God?
We find another test in Hebrews 3:1—“you who share in a heavenly calling.” “Heavenly calling” means a call from heaven. If your call comes from man alone, you are uncalled. Is your calling from God? Is it a call to heaven as well as from heaven? Unless you are a stranger here, and heaven is your home, you have not been called with a heavenly calling, for those who have been called from heaven declare that they look for a city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God, and they find themselves strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Is your calling holy, high, heavenly? Then, beloved, you have been called of God, for such is the calling by which God calls His people.
Devotional material is taken from Morning and Evening, written by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. Copyright © 2003, Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org. Used by Truth For Life with written permission.
Daily Bible Reading for October 11
Prophecy Against Jeroboam
1At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. 2And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, and disguise yourself, that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to gShiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, hwho said of me that I should be king over this people. 3iTake with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child.”
4Jeroboam's wife did so. She arose and went to gShiloh and came to the house of jAhijah. Now jAhijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. 5And the Lord said to jAhijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her.”
When she came, she pretended to be another woman. 6But when jAhijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with unbearable news for you. 7Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: k“Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel 8and ltore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, and yet you have not been mlike my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes, 9but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and nmade for yourself other gods and ometal images, provoking me to anger, and phave cast me behind your back, 10therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and qwill cut off from Jeroboam every male, rboth bond and free in Israel, and swill burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. 11tAnyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat, for the Lord has spoken it.”’ 12Arise therefore, go to your house. uWhen your feet enter the city, the child shall die. 13And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him vthere is found something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. 14wMoreover, the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today. And henceforth, 15the Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water, and xroot up Israel out of ythis good land that he gave to their fathers and scatter them zbeyond the Euphrates,1 because they have made their aAsherim, provoking the Lord to anger. 16And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin.”
17Then Jeroboam's wife arose and departed and came to bTirzah. And cas she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. 18And all Israel buried him and mourned for him, daccording to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet.
The Death of Jeroboam
19Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, ehow he warred and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 20And the time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. And he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.
Rehoboam Reigns in Judah
21fNow Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, gthe city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. hHis mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. 22iAnd Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they jprovoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. 23For they also built for themselves khigh places land pillars and mAsherim on every high hill and nunder every green tree, 24and there were also omale cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.
25pIn the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. 26He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house. qHe took away everything. He also took away all the shields of gold rthat Solomon had made, 27and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house. 28And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.
29sNow the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 30tAnd there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. 31And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. uHis mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. And vAbijam his son reigned in his place.
Greeting
1Paul, aan apostle of Christ Jesus bby the will of God, and Timothy cour brother,
2To the dsaints and faithful brothers1 in Christ at Colossae:
eGrace to you and peace from God our Father.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3fWe always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4since we heard of gyour faith in Christ Jesus and of gthe love that you have for all the saints, 5because of hthe hope ilaid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in jthe word of the truth, the gospel, 6which has come to you, as indeed kin the whole world it is lbearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you mheard it and understood nthe grace of God in truth, 7just as you learned it from oEpaphras our beloved pfellow servant.2 He is pa faithful minister of Christ on your3 behalf 8and has made known to us your qlove in the Spirit.
9And so, rfrom the day we heard, swe have not ceased to pray for you, asking that tyou may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all uspiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so as vto walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, wfully pleasing to him: xbearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11ybeing strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for zall endurance and patience awith joy; 12bgiving thanks4 to the Father, who has qualified you5 to share in cthe inheritance of the saints in light. 13He dhas delivered us from ethe domain of darkness and transferred us to fthe kingdom of ghis beloved Son, 14hin whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Preeminence of Christ
15iHe is the image of jthe invisible God, kthe firstborn of all creation. 16For by6 him all things were created, lin heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether mthrones or ndominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created othrough him and for him. 17And phe is before all things, and in him all things qhold together. 18And rhe is the head of the body, the church. He is sthe beginning, tthe firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For uin him all the vfullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and wthrough him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, xmaking peace yby the blood of his cross.
21zAnd you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, adoing evil deeds, 22he has now reconciled bin his body of flesh by his death, cin order to present you holy and blameless and dabove reproach before him, 23eif indeed you continue in the faith, fstable and steadfast, not shifting from gthe hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed hin all creation7 under heaven, iand of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Paul's Ministry to the Church
24Now jI rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh kI am filling up lwhat is lacking in Christ's afflictions mfor the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25nof which I became a minister according to othe stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26pthe mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27qTo them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are rthe riches of the glory of pthis mystery, which is Christ in you, sthe hope of glory. 28Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that twe may present everyone umature in Christ. 29For this vI toil, wstruggling xwith all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
The Gate for the Prince
1Then he brought me wback to the outer gate of the sanctuary, xwhich faces east. And it was shut. 2And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for ythe Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut. 3Only zthe prince may sit in it ato eat bread before the Lord. He bshall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.”
4Then he brought me by way of cthe north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, dthe glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord. And eI fell on my face. 5And the Lord said to me, f“Son of man, mark well, gsee with your eyes, gand hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning hall the statutes of the temple of the Lord and all its laws. And mark well hthe entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary. 6And say to ithe rebellious house,1 to the jhouse of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, kenough of all your abominations, 7in ladmitting foreigners, muncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, nprofaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You2 have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. 8And oyou have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary.
9“Thus says the Lord God: pNo foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. 10But qthe Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols rwhen Israel went astray, sshall bear their punishment.3 11They shall be tministers in my sanctuary, having oversight uat the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and vthey shall stand before the people, to minister to them. 12Because they ministered to them before their idols and became wa stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have xsworn concerning them, declares the Lord God, and they shall bear their punishment. 13They yshall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but zthey shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. 14Yet I will appoint them to keep acharge of the temple, bto do all its service and all that is to be done in it.
Rules for Levitical Priests
15“But cthe Levitical priests, cthe sons of Zadok, who kept athe charge of my sanctuary rwhen the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me dto minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me ethe fat and the blood, declares the Lord God. 16They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach fmy table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. 17When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear glinen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. 18They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. 19And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering hand lay them in the holy chambers. And ithey shall put on other garments, jlest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. 20kThey shall not shave their heads or llet their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. 21mNo priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. 22nThey shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23oThey shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and oshow them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. 24pIn a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and qthey shall keep my Sabbaths holy. 25rThey shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. 26sAfter he4 has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. 27And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, tinto the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, uhe shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord God.
28v“This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and wyou shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. 29xThey shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and yevery devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30zAnd the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. aYou shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, bthat a blessing may rest on your house. 31cThe priests shall not eat of danything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.
Psalm 97
The Lord Reigns
1xThe Lord reigns, ylet the earth rejoice;
let the many zcoastlands be glad!
2aClouds and thick darkness are all around him;
brighteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3cFire goes before him
and burns up his adversaries all around.
4His dlightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and etrembles.
5The mountains fmelt like gwax before the Lord,
before hthe Lord of all the earth.
6iThe heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all jthe peoples see his glory.
7All worshipers of images are kput to shame,
who make their boast in lworthless idols;
mworship him, all you gods!
8Zion hears and nis glad,
and the daughters of Judah rejoice,
because of your judgments, O Lord.
9For you, O Lord, are omost high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above pall gods.
10O you who love the Lord, qhate evil!
He rpreserves the lives of his ssaints;
he tdelivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11uLight vis sown1 for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
12wRejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
and xgive thanks to his holy name!
Psalm 98
Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord
A Psalm.
1Oh sing to the Lord ya new song,
for he has done zmarvelous things!
His aright hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
2The Lord has bmade known his salvation;
he has crevealed his righteousness in dthe sight of the nations.
3He has eremembered his fsteadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All gthe ends of the earth have seen
hthe salvation of our God.
4iMake a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
jbreak forth into joyous song and sing praises!
5Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and the ksound of melody!
6With ltrumpets and the sound of mthe horn
imake a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!
7nLet the sea roar, and oall that fills it;
othe world and those who dwell in it!
8Let the rivers pclap their hands;
let qthe hills sing for joy together
9before the Lord, for he comes
to rjudge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.
Get the Program, Devotional, and Bible Reading Plan delivered daily right to your inbox.