http://opc.org/devotional.html A Daily Devotional from OPC.org en-us Thu, 23 May 2013 00:01:01 EDT Copyright 2007-2013 Orthodox Presbyterian Church Orthodox Presbyterian Church http://opc.org/devotional.html?devotion_id=3120 Bible Text: And let us not be weary in well doing: for in. due season we shall reap, if we faint not. —Galatians 6:9 Devotional: But since no man in this terrestrial and corporeal prison has strength sufficient to press forward in his course with a due degree of alacrity, and the majority are oppressed with such great debility that they stagger and halt, and even creep on the ground; and so make very inconsiderable advances—let us everyone proceed according to our small ability, and prosecute the journey we have begun. No man will be so unhappy, but that he may every day make some progress, however small. Therefore let us not cease to strive, that we may be incessantly advancing in the way of the Lord; nor let us despair on account of the smallness of our success; for however our success may not correspond to our wishes, yet our labor is not lost, when this day surpasses the preceding one; provided that, with sincere simplicity, we keep our end in view, and press forward to the goal, not practising self-adulation, nor indulging our own evil propensities, but perpetually exerting our endeavors after increasing degrees of improvement, till we shall have arrived at a perfection of goodness, which, indeed, we seek and pursue as long as we live, and shall then attain, when, divested of all corporeal infirmity, we shall be admitted by God into complete communion with him. Institutes, III, vi, v ]]> Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 EST http://opc.org/devotional.html?devotion_id=3120 http://opc.org/devotional.html?devotion_id=3119 Bible Text: Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. —Isaiah 49:15 Devotional: "Shall a woman forget her child?" In order to correct that distrust, he adds to the remonstrance an exhortation full of the sweetest consolation. By an appropriate comparison he shows how strong is his anxiety about his people, comparing himself to a mother, whose love toward her offspring is so strong and ardent as to leave far behind a father's love. Thus he did not satisfy himself with proposing the example of a father (which on other occasions he very frequently employs), but in order to express his very strong affection, he chose to liken himself to a mother, and calls them not merely "children" but the fruit of the womb, towards which there is usually a warmer affection. What amazing affection does a mother feel toward her offspring, which she cherishes in her bosom, suckles on her breast, and watches over with tender care, so that she passes sleepless nights, wears herself out by continual anxiety, and forgets herself! And this carefulness is manifested, not only among men, but even among savage beasts, which, though they are by nature cruel, yet in this respect are gentle. "Even if they shall forget." Since it does sometimes happen that mothers degenerate into such monsters as to exceed in cruelty the wild beasts and forget "the fruit of their womb," the Lord next declares that, even though this should happen, still he will never forget his people. The affection which he bears toward us is far stronger and warmer than the love of all mothers. We ought also to bear in mind the saying of Christ, "If ye, being evil, know how to give good things to your children, how much more your heavenly Father?" (Matt. 7:11). Men, though by nature depraved and addicted to self-love, are anxious about their children. What shall God do, who is goodness itself? Will it be possible for him to lay aside a father's love? Certainly not. Although therefore it should happen that mothers (which is a monstrous thing) should forsake their own offspring, yet God, whose love toward his people is constant and unremitting, will never forsake them. In a word, the Prophet here describes to us the inconceivable carefulness with which God unceasingly watches over our salvation, that we may be fully convinced that he will never forsake us, though we may be afflicted with great and numerous calamities. —Commentaries ]]> Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 EST http://opc.org/devotional.html?devotion_id=3119 http://opc.org/devotional.html?devotion_id=3118 Bible Text: And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient. —II Timothy 2:24 . Devotional: The servant of God must not strive, but be gentle and patient and fit to teach. Here we will conclude that they who give themselves to vain questions show plainly that they have no desire nor zeal to serve God. For though a man be never so wise, yet notwithstanding we must count him as a desperate devil if we see he does not have this affection in him, to serve God, if he have not this end and mark before him, to honor God. And surely it is not without cause that it was said in an old proverb that learning in a man that does not rule himself aright is like a sword in a madman's hand. This is Saint Paul's meaning, to point out all them that are given to contention, to the end that we may detest them, and abhor them, as men that seek not in any way to serve God. And why? For these are things that can no more agree together than fire and water, to serve God and to love contentions and disputations, which breed nothing but strife and debate. —Sermons ]]> Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 EST http://opc.org/devotional.html?devotion_id=3118