Simpson Devotional

Simpson Devotional - Friday, November 20, 2009

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0700

An American gentleman once visited the saintly Albert Bengel. He was very desirous to hear him pray. So one night he lingered at his door, hoping to overhear his closing devotions. The rooms were adjoining and the doors ajar. The good man finished his studies, closed his books, knelt down for a moment and simply said, "Dear Lord Jesus, things are still the same between us" and then quietly fell asleep. So close was his communion with his Lord that labor did not interrupt it and prayer was not necessary to renew it. It was a ceaseless, almost unconscious presence, like the fragrance of the summer garden or the company of some special person by our side whose presence we somehow feel, even though the busy hours pass by and not a word is exchanged. O blessed fellowship, divine, O joy, supremely sweet, Companionship with Jesus here, Makes life with joy replete; 0 wondrous grace, 0 joy sublime, I've Jesus with me all the time.

Simpson Devotional - Thursday, November 19, 2009

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0700

When any great blessing is awaiting us, the devil is sure to try to make it so disagreeable to us that we shall miss it. it is a good thing to know Satan as a liar and to remember, when he is trying to prejudice us strongly against any cause, that very likely the greatest blessing of our lives lies there. Spurgeon once said that the best evidence that God was on our side is the devil's growl, and we are generally pretty safe in following a thing according to Satan's dislike for it. Take care lest, in the very line where your prejudices are setting you apart from God's people and God's truth, you are missing the treasures of your life. Take the treasures of heaven no matter how they come to you, even if, as earthly treasures generally are, they are like the kernel inside the rough shell or the gem in the center of the hard rock. I have seen Jesus, and my heart is dead to all beside, I have seen Jesus, and my wants are all, in Him, supplied. I have seen Jesus, and my heart, at last, is satisfied, Since I've seen Jesus.

Simpson Devotional - Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0700

Great is the difference between action and transaction. We may be constantly acting without accomplishing anything, but a transaction is action that passes beyond the point of return and becomes a permanent committal. Salvation is a transaction between the soul and Christ in which the matter passes beyond recall. Sanctification is a great transaction in which we are utterly surrendered, irrevocably consecrated and wholly committed to the Holy Spirit; then He comes and seals the transaction and undertakes the work. Our covenant for our Lord's healing should be just as explicit, definite and irrevocable. This should also be true of the covenants to which God is leading His children from time to time in regard to other matters of obedience and service. God grant that during this hallowed day many a consecrated life may be able to say with new significance and permanence, Tis done, the great transaction's done." For the living Vine is Jesus; in whose fullness we may hide; And find our life and fruitfulness As, we in Him abide.

Simpson Devotional - Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0700

God does give us impressions but not with the intent that we should act on them as impressions. If the impression comes from God, He will Himself give sufficient evidence to establish it beyond the possibility of a doubt. We read of the impression that came to Jeremiah concerning the purchase of the field of Anathoth. Jeremiah, however, did not act upon this impression until after the following day, when his Uncle's son came to him and brought him external evidence by making a proposal for the purchase - Then Jeremiah said, I knew that this was the word of the Lord/ (Jerermah 32:8). He waited until God seconded the impression by a providence, and then he acted in full view of the open facts that could bring conviction unto others as well as himself. God wants us to act according to His mind. We are not to ignore the Shepherd's personal voice, but like Paul and his companions at Troas we are to listen to all the voices that speak and gather from all the circumstances, as they did, the full mind of the Lord.

Simpson Devotional - Monday, November 16, 2009

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0700

Jesus illustrates the unexpectedness of His coming by the figure of a thief entering a house when the master is not there. Life, like a house when the master the old Jewish night, may be divided into three watches-youth, maturity, old age. The summons to meet God may come to us in any of these watches. A writer tells us of his experience with a camping party of which he was a member and which, he tells us, always arranged to have watches at night. "We became especially careful after what I am about to narrate happened. During the first night, from sunset to sunrise, we had in turn carefully guarded our camp. But when the next night came, we were so impressed with the seeming safety of the neighborhood that we concluded no guard was needed until bedtime. We spent the evening in the main tent telling stories, singing and enjoying ourselves. When the hour to retire arrived, we discovered that our other tents had been robbed and everything of value stolen. The mischief was done before we thought a guard necessary." It is never too soon to begin watching against sin.

Simpson Devotional - Sunday, November 15, 2009

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0700

0 man of desires was the divine character given to Daniel. The thought is translated in the King James version, A man greatly beloved. But it literally means, 0 man of desires. Desire is a necessary element in all spiritual forces. It is one of the secrets of effectual prayer. What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them (Mark 11:24). The element of strong desire gives momentum to our purposes and prayers. Indifference is an unwholesome condition; indolence and apathy are offensive both to God and nature. So it is in our spiritual lives: God often has to wake us up by the presence of trying circumstances and push us into new places of trust by forces that we must subdue. There is no factor in prayer more effectual than love. if we are intensely interested in an object or an individual, our petitions become like living forces. Not only do they convey their wants to God, but in some sense they convey God's help back to us. May God so fill us today with the heart of Christ that we may glow with the divine fire of holy desire.

Simpson Devotional - Saturday, November 14, 2009

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0700

How strong is the snare of the things that are seen, and how necessary for God to keep us in the things that are unseen! If Peter is to walk on the water, he must walk; if he is going to swim, he must swim; but he cannot do both. if the bird is going to fly it must keep away from the fences and the trees and trust to its buoyant wings. If it tries to keep within easy reach of the ground, it will make poor work of flying. God had to bring Abraham to the end of his own strength and to let him see that in his own body he could do nothing. He had to consider his own body as good as dead and then take God for the whole work. When he looked away from himself and trusted God alone, then he became fully persuaded that what God had promised He was able also to perform. This is what God is teaching us. He has to withhold encouraging results until we learn to trust without them, and then He loves to make His work real in fact as well as faith. Let us look only to Him today to do what/ He will choose in the way He will choose.

Simpson Devotional - Friday, November 13, 2009

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0700

Daniel's heart was filled with God's love for His work and kingdom, and his prayers were the mightiest forces of his time. Through them God gave to him the restoration of Israel to their own land, and the acknowledgment by the rulers of the world of the God of whom he testified and for whom he lived. There is a beautiful promise in Psalm 37: Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart (v.4). It is, perhaps, legitimate to translate this as meaning not only the fulfillment of our desires, but even the inspiration of our desires, the inbreathing of His thoughts into us so that our prayers shall be in accord with His will and bring back to us the unfailing answer of His mighty providence. Teach me Thy thoughts, 0 God! Think Thou, Thyself, in me; Then shall I only always think Thine own thoughts after Thee. Teach me Thy thoughts, 0 God! Show me Thy plan divine; Save me from all my plans and works, And lead me into Thine.

Simpson Devotional - Thursday, November 12, 2009

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0700

Life in earnest-what a rare, what a glorious spectacle! We see it in the Son of God; we see it in His apostle; we see it in every noble, consecrated and truly successful life. Without it there may be a thousand good things, but they lack the golden thread that binds them all into a chain of power and permanence. They are like costly and beautiful beads, that fall in confusion from a broken string, and are lost in the end for want of the bond that alone could bind them into a life of consistent and lasting power. Oh, for the baptism of fire! oh, for the earnest, the Spirit! Oh, for lives that have but one thing to do or care for! Oh, for the depth and everlasting strength of the heart of Christ within us, to love, to sacrifice, to realize, to persevere, to live and die like Him! We are going forth with a trust so sacred, And a truth so divine and deep, With a message clear and a work so glorious, And a charge-such a charge-to keep. Let it be your greatest joy, my brother, That the Lord can count on you: And if all besides should fail and falter, To your trust be always true.

Simpson Devotional - Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0700

Our life from the dead is to be followed up by the habit and attitude which is the logical outcome of all this. Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ . . . but yield yourselves unto God, not to die over again every day, but as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God (Romans 6:11, 13). Further, Christ's resurrection life is given to fit us for the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death (Philippians 3:10). It is intended to enable us to toil and suffer with rejoicing and victory. We mount up with wings as eagles that we may run, and not be weary; . . . walk, and not faint (Isaiah 40:31). But let us not mistake the sufferings. They do not mean our sufferings, but His. They are not our struggles after holiness, our sicknesses and pains, but those higher sufferings which, with Him, we bear for others and for a suffering Church and a dying world. May God help us not to sorrow for ourselves, but put us at leisure, in the power of His resurrection, to bear His burdens and drink His cup.

Simpson Devotional - Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0700

But prayer is the link that connects us with God. it is the bridge that spans every gulf and bears us over every abyss of danger or of need. How significant the picture of the apostolic church: Peter in prison, the Jews triumphant, Herod supreme, the arena of martyrdom awaiting the dawning of the morning to drink up the apostle's blood-everything against it. But prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. And what was the sequel? The prison open, the apostle free, the Jews baffled, the wicked king eaten of worms-a spectacle of hideous retribution-and the Word of God rolling on in greater victory. Do we know the power of our supernatural weapon? Do we dare to use it with the authority of a faith that commands as well as asks? May God baptize us with holy audacity and divine confidence. He is not wanting great men and women, but He is wanting men and women who will dare to prove the greatness of their God. But God! But prayer!

Simpson Devotional - Monday, November 09, 2009

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0700

A fter having become adjusted to our Living Head and the source of our life, our business now is to abide, absorb and grow. We do this by leaning on Christ's strength, drinking in His life, feeding on Him as the Living Bread and drawing all of our resources from Him in continual dependence and communion. The Holy Spirit will be the great Teacher and Minister in this blessed process. He will take of the things of Christ and show them to us, and He will impart them through all the channels and functions of our spiritual lives. As we yield ourselves to Him He will breathe His own prayer of communion, drawing out our hearts in longings and hungerings, which are the pledge of their own fulfillment, calling us apart in silent and wordless prayer, and opening every sense and sensibility of our spiritual beings to take in His life. As the lungs absorb the oxygen from the atmosphere, as the senses breathe in the sweet odors of the garden, so the heart instinctively receives and rejoices in the affection and fellowship of the beloved One by our sides. Thus each of us becomes like a tree planted by the rivers of water (Psalm 1:3).

Simpson Devotional - Sunday, November 08, 2009

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0700

There is a natural law of sin and sickness. If we just sink into the trend of circumstances we shall go down and sink under the power of the tempter. But there is another law of spiritual life and physical life in Christ Jesus to which we can rise and through which we can counterbalance and overcome the law that bears us down. But to do this requires real spiritual energy, fixed purpose and a settled posture and habit of faith. in the factory that relies on a single source of mechanical power, it is necessary to engage the belt that turns the central shaft and keeps it engaged. The power is there, but only if the connection is maintained is it usable power to operate the machinery. There is a spiritual law of choosing, believing, abiding and holding steady in our walk with God that is essential to the working of the Holy Spirit either in our sanctification or healing. There is a word that saves the soul, "I will trust;" It makes the sick and suffering whole, "I will trust."

Simpson Devotional - Saturday, November 07, 2009

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0700

God has three ways of helping us. First, He says, I will strengthen thee. In other words, He is saying, "I will make you a little stronger yourself." Second, He adds, I will help thee. By that we understand Him to say, "I will add my strength to your strength, but you shall lead and I will help you." Third, He says, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness-or, "I will lift you up bodily and carry you altogether. It will be neither your strength nor My help, but My complete upholding. When we come to the end of our strength, we come to the beginning of His. In Him the weakest are the strongest, and the most helpless the most helped. He giveth power to the faint, but to them that have no might at all He increaseth strength. His word forever is, My grace is sufficient for thee. The answer is a paradox of contradictions, and yet the most practical of truths. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. . . . For when I am weak, then am I strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

Simpson Devotional - Friday, November 06, 2009

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0700

Bless the Lord, 0 my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfeth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's (vv.1-5). Who so well can sing this thanksgiving song as we who rejoice in God's full salvation and praise God for the glorious health of a risen Lord and a continual youth? This psalm and its opening verses is in the very center of the Scriptures by an exact count of letters and verses. So let it stand central in our lives, as we look backward and forward and upward in grateful thanksgiving. Let us sing in the words of its closing strains, Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, 0 my soul (Psalm 103:22). Lord, center my heart in Thee and in the spirit of love and praise.