Truth For Life Program
Alistair Begg Devotional
C. H. Spurgeon Devotional
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
A blind beggar’s vision was miraculously restored when he encountered Jesus—but that’s not all! This once hopeless and helpless man’s life was completely transformed. Find out what a genuine response of faith entails, on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.
From the Sermon
Undeserving Servants
When children do something wrong, they often seek their parents’ forgiveness, receive it, and then say, “I know I was wrong, but… there was a perfectly good reason that I was doing what I was doing.” We see something similar with the prophet Jonah. God had forgiven him, picked him up, and put him back on track, and still he tried to justify his previous disobedience. He was simultaneously feeling angry, arguing, and praying—which is not an easy feat!
In Jonah’s arguing, notice how many times the personal pronoun “I” pops out. There was a bit too much “Jonah” in his speech—and therefore in his heart—as he presented his case as a matter of his word against the Lord’s. He foolishly supposed that his way was better than God’s.
Jonah’s complaint was also rooted in a double standard. Though he had recently been the recipient of God’s compassion and mercy, he found fault with God for displaying that very same mercy to those who Jonah felt should be beyond redemption.
The big issue for Jonah was God’s sovereign grace. He was angry at God for acting in a way that he did not understand or approve of. But the Lord had long ago declared, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19). Divine grace towards sinners can never be explained. It does not have a reason; it simply reflects who God is.
In response to Jonah’s reaction, the Lord did not ask him if he was angry but whether he had a right to be angry. That was the core matter: did Jonah—a representative of a people whom God had favored even when they’d gone astray, and who in his disobedience had personally known the saving hand of God—have any valid grounds to object to God’s compassion toward others? The answer is clear: no. Neither do we have any right to challenge God on how and to whom He extends His mercy or how He directs all things in order to save His people and glorify His Son.
If we find ourselves angry with God and complaining about the way He has chosen to go about fulfilling His purposes, it is because we have forgotten just how undeserving we are of receiving God’s grace. Here is the danger: that we become so tolerant of our own disobedience that we think we are entitled to God’s favor and blessing. But all is of grace, every day. Only when we have been gripped by grace will we be able to rejoice in the abundance of God’s mercy that is lavished upon His undeserving saints.
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?
Jonah's Anger and the Lord's Compassion
1But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,1 and yhe was angry. 2And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? zThat is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a agracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and arelenting from disaster. 3bTherefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, cfor it is better for me to die than to live.” 4And the Lord said, d“Do you do well to be angry?”
5Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and emade a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6Now the Lord God appointed a plant2 and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort.3 So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching feast wind, gand the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he hwas faint. And he asked that he might die and said, c“It is better for me to die than to live.” 9But God said to Jonah, i“Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11And should not I pity jNineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much kcattle?”
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.
Present Possession
… Ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the spirit.
Present possession is declared. At this present moment we have the firstfruits of the Spirit. We have repentance, that gem of the first water; faith, that priceless pearl; hope, the heavenly emerald; and love, the glorious ruby. We are already made new creatures in Christ Jesus by the effectual working of God the Holy Spirit. This is called the firstfruit because it comes first. As the wave-sheaf was the first of the harvest, so the spiritual life, and all the graces that adorn that life, are the first operations of the Spirit of God in our souls.
The firstfruits were the pledge of the harvest. As soon as the Israelite had plucked the first handful of ripe ears, he looked forward with glad anticipation to the time when the wagon would creak beneath the sheaves. So, brethren, when God gives us things that are pure, lovely, and of good report, as the work of the Holy Spirit, these are to us the indications of the coming glory. The firstfruits were always holy to the Lord, and our new nature, with all its powers, is a consecrated thing. The new life is not ours that we should ascribe its excellence to our own merit; it is Christ's image and creation and is ordained for His glory.
But the firstfruits were not the harvest, and the works of the Spirit in us at this moment are not the consummation—the perfection is still to come. We must not boast that we have attained, and so reckon the first sheaf to be all the produce of the year: We must hunger and thirst for righteousness and long for the day of full redemption. Dear reader, this evening open your mouth wide, and God will fill it. Let the blessing in present possession excite in you a sacred greed for more grace. Groan within yourself for higher degrees of consecration, and your Lord will grant them to you, for He is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.
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 August 16
1 Samuel 7
1And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of aAbinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the Lord. 2From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.
Samuel Judges Israel
3And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, b“If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then cput away the foreign gods and the dAshtaroth from among you and edirect your heart to the Lord fand serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 4So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.
5Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at gMizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6So they gathered at gMizpah hand drew water and poured it out before the Lord iand fasted on that day and said there, j“We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. 7Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And kSamuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. 10As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. lBut the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. 11And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.
12Then Samuel mtook a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen1 and called its name Ebenezer;2 for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.” 13nSo the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.
15oSamuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 16And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. 17Then he would return to pRamah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. qAnd he built there an altar to the Lord.
1 Samuel 8
Israel Demands a King
1When Samuel became old, rhe made his sons judges over Israel. 2The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3Yet his sons did not walk in his ways sbut turned aside after gain. tThey took bribes and perverted justice.
4Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at pRamah 5and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. uNow appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, vfor they have not rejected you, wbut they have rejected me from being king over them. 8According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them xand show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
Samuel's Warning Against Kings
10So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11He said, y“These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: zhe will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some ato plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14bHe will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men1 and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, cbut the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
The Lord Grants Israel's Request
19But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20dthat we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22And the Lord said to Samuel, e“Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”
Dead to Sin, Alive to God
1What shall we say then? mAre we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can nwe who died to sin still live in it? 3Do you not know that all of us owho have been baptized pinto Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were qburied therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as rChrist was raised from the dead by sthe glory of the Father, we too might walk in tnewness of life.
5For uif we have been united with him in va death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that wour old self1 xwas crucified with him in order that ythe body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For zone who has died ahas been set free2 from sin. 8Now bif we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that cChrist, being raised from the dead, will never die again; ddeath no longer has dominion over him. 10For the death he died he died to sin, eonce for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves fdead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12Let not gsin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13hDo not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but ipresent yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14For jsin kwill have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Slaves to Righteousness
15What then? lAre we to sin mbecause we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16Do you not know that if you present yourselves nto anyone as obedient slaves,3 you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17But othanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the pstandard of teaching to which you were committed, 18and, qhaving been set free from sin, rhave become slaves of righteousness. 19sI am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For tjust as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members uas slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
20vFor when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21wBut what fruit were you getting at that time from the things xof which you are now ashamed? yFor the end of those things is death. 22But now that you zhave been set free from sin and ahave become slaves of God, bthe fruit you get leads to sanctification and cits end, eternal life. 23dFor the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Judgment for Idolatry
1The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt, at iMigdol, at jTahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of kPathros, 2“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day lthey are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, 3because of the evil that they committed, mprovoking me to anger, nin that they went to make offerings oand serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. 4pYet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ 5qBut they did not listen qor incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. 6rTherefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, sand they became a waste and a desolation, as at this day. 7And now thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil tagainst yourselves, to cut off from you uman and woman, uinfant and child, from the midst of Judah, leaving you no remnant? 8mWhy do you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, nmaking offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to live, so that you may be cut off and become va curse and a taunt among all the nations of the earth? 9Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers, wthe evil of the kings of Judah, xthe evil of their1 wives, your own evil, yand the evil of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10They have not humbled themselves even to this day, znor have they feared, nor walked in my law and my statutes that I set before you and before your fathers.
11“Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: aBehold, I will set my face against you for harm, to cut off all Judah. 12I will take the remnant of Judah who have bset their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed. cIn the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine cthey shall be consumed. dFrom the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, eand they shall become an oath, a horror, va curse, and a taunt. 13fI will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, 14gso that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive hor return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there. For they shall not return, iexcept some fugitives.”
15Then all the men who knew that jtheir wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in kPathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: 16“As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, lwe will not listen to you. 17mBut we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to nthe queen of heaven oand pour out drink offerings to her, pas we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. 18But since we left off making offerings to nthe queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything qand have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” 19And the women said,2 “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven rand poured out drink offerings to her, was it swithout our husbands' approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”
20Then Jeremiah said to all the people, tmen and women, all the people who had given him this answer: 21u“As for the offerings that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your officials, and the people of the land, vdid not the Lord remember them? Did it not come into his mind? 22wThe Lord could no longer bear your evil deeds and xthe abominations that you committed. yTherefore your land has become za desolation and a waste and a curse, awithout inhabitant, as it is this day. 23It is because you made offerings band because you sinned against the Lord and did not obey the voice of the Lord or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies cthat this disaster has happened to you, as at this day.”
24Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, dall you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. 25Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: eYou and your wives have declared with your mouths, and have fulfilled it with your hands, saying, ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made, fto make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Then confirm your vows and perform your vows! 26Therefore hear the word of the Lord, dall you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: gBehold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord, hthat my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, isaying, ‘As the Lord God lives.’ 27jBehold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. kAll the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end of them. 28lAnd those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, mfew in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live, nshall know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. 29This shall be the sign to you, declares the Lord, that I will punish you in this place, in order that you may know that omy words will surely stand against you for harm: 30Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will give pPharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies qand into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave rZedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.”
Psalm 20
Trust in the Name of the Lord Our God
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1May the Lord lanswer you in the day of trouble!
May mthe name of the God of Jacob nprotect you!
2May he send you help from othe sanctuary
and give you support from pZion!
3May he qremember all your offerings
and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah
4May he rgrant you your heart's desire
and fulfill all your plans!
5May we shout for joy over syour salvation,
and in the name of our God set up our tbanners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!
6Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with uthe saving might of his right hand.
7Some trust in vchariots and some in whorses,
xbut we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
8They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.
9O Lord, save ythe king!
May he answer us when we call.
Psalm 21
The King Rejoices in the Lord's Strength
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1O Lord, in your zstrength the king rejoices,
and in your asalvation how greatly he exults!
2You have bgiven him his heart's desire
and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
3For you cmeet him with rich blessings;
you set da crown of efine gold upon his head.
4He asked life of you; you fgave it to him,
glength of days forever and ever.
5His hglory is great through your salvation;
isplendor and majesty you bestow on him.
6For you make him most blessed forever;1
you make him glad with the jjoy of your presence.
7For the king trusts in the Lord,
and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be kmoved.
8Your hand will lfind out all your enemies;
your right hand will find out those who hate you.
9You will make them as ma blazing oven
when you appear.
The Lord will swallow them up in his nwrath,
and ofire will consume them.
10You pwill destroy their qdescendants from the earth,
and their offspring from among the children of man.
11Though they plan evil against you,
though they rdevise mischief, they will not succeed.
12For you will put them sto flight;
you will taim at their faces with your bows.
13Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength!
We will sing and praise your power.
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