From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
No Stranger in Heaven
December 31
Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. (Psalm 73:24)
From day to day and from year to year my faith believes in the wisdom and love of God, and I know that I shall not believe in vain. No good word of His has ever failed, and I am sure that none shall ever fall to the ground.
I put myself into His hand for guidance. I know not the way that I should choose: the Lord shall choose mine inheritance for me. I need counsel and advice; for my duties are intricate, and my condition is involved… The counsel of the infallible God I seek in preference to my own judgment or the advice of friends…
Soon the end will come: a few more years and I must depart out of this world unto the Father. My Lord will be near my bed. He will meet me at heaven’s gate: He will welcome me to the gloryland. I shall not be a stranger in heaven: my own God and Father will receive me to its endless bliss.
Glory be to Him who
Will guide me here,
And receive me hereafter. Amen.
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Tags: abide, accept, advice, almighty, Amen, bed, Belief, believers, believes, Bible, bliss, calling, choose, Christ, Christians, come, Comforter, condition, counsel, day, Death, depart, duties, Elohim, end, endless, eternal life, Eternity, everlasting life, fail, Faith, faithfulness, fall, Father, friends, glory, Gloryland, God, God's hand, God's people, God's Son, God's Word, good, Great Physician, ground, guidance, guide, Heaaven, Healer, Heaven's Gate, Heavenly Father, hereafter, Him, Holy Spirit, I Am, infallible, inheritance, intricate, involved, Jehovah, Jesus, judgment, lead, Lord, love, meet, must, my own, near, need, never, none, not, not be, out, over, own, place, prefer, preference, Promise, Promises, protector, Provider, put, Rapture, receive, saints, Savior, Scriptures, seek, service, shall, soon, stranger, time, trustworthiness, truthfullness, Ueshua, unto, vain, way, welcome, who, will, wisdom, Word, World, Yahweh, year
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Immediately Present
December 22
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)
A help that is not present when we need it is of small value. The anchor which is left at home is of no use to the seaman in the hour of storm; the money which he used to have is of no worth to the debtor when a writ is out against him. Very few earthly helps could be called “very present”: they are usually far in the seeking, far in the using, and farther still when once used. But as for the Lord our God, He is present when we seek Him, present when we need Him, and present when we have already enjoyed His aid.
He is more than “present,” He is very present. More present than the nearest friend can be, for He is in us in our trouble; more present than we are to ourselves, for sometimes we lack presence of mind. He is always present, effectually present, sympathetically present, altogether present. He is present now if this is a gloomy season. Let us rest ourselves upon Him. He is our refuge, let us hide in Him; He is our strength, let us array ourselves with Him; He is our help, let us lean upon Him; He is our very present help, let us repose in Him now. We need not have a moment’s care or an instant’s fear. “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Tags: absent, afraid, against, almighty, already, altogether, always, anchor, array, ask, attacks, battles, believers, bill, blessings, called, care, Christ, Christians, closer, clother, comfort, Comforter, courage, Death, debtor, Depression, earthly, effectually, Elohim, enjoyed, Faith, faithfulness, far, farther, Fear, few, foreclosure, forever, forgotten, found, friend, friendship, gloomy, God, God of Jacob, God's aid, God's people, God's Son, Great Physician, guide, happiness, have, healing, Heavenly Father, help, helper, helps, hide in, Holy Spirit, home, hope, hour, illnesses, instant:s, Jehovah, Jesus, joy, lawsuit, lead, left, Life, Lord, Lord of Hosts, Lord our God, lost, Mediator, misused, moment's, money, nearest, need, never, not, now, once, oppression, ourselves, patience, persecution, Pray, prayer, present, protect, protector, provide, Provider, refuge, repose, rest, Sadness, Savior, seaman, season, seek, seeking, self-help, self-trust, shelter, small, sorrow, still, storm, strength, struggles, sympathetically, sympathy, trials, tribulations, trouble, trust, trustworthy, upon, use, used, using, usually, value, very, worth, writ, Yahweh, Yeshua
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Divine Expulsion
December 16
Thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong. (Joshua 17:18)
It is a great encouragement to valor to be assured of victory, for then a man goes forth to war in confidence and ventures where else he had been afraid to go. Our warfare is with evil within us and around us, and we ought to be persuaded that we are able to get the victory and that we shall do so in the name of the Lord Jesus. We are not riding for a fall, but to win; and win we shall. The grace of God in its omnipotence is put forth for the overflow of evil in every form: hence the certainty of triumph.
Certain of our sins find chariots of iron in our constitution, our former habits, our associations, and our occupations. Nevertheless we must overcome them. They are very strong, and in reference to them we are very weak; yet in the name of God we must master them, and we will. If one sin has dominion of us we are not the Lord’s free men. A man who is held by only one chain is still a captive. There is no going to heaven with one sin ruling within us, for of the saints it is said, “Sin shall not have dominion over you.” Up, then, and slay every Canaanite, and break to slivers every chariot of iron! The Lord of hosts is with us, and who shall resist His sin-destroying power?
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Tags: abiding, achieve, afraid, almighty, around, associations, assured, attacks, battles, believers, bravery, break, bullies, Canaanites, captive, certain, certainty, chain, chains, chariots, Christ, Christians, confidence, conquer, Constitution, courage, Defeat, dominion, drive out, employments, encouragement, enemies, eternal life, every, evil, Faith, faithfulness, fall, fight, foes, form, former, forth, friendships, go, God, God's grace, God's name, God's people, God's Power, God's Son, grace of God, great, guide, habits, Heaven, Heavenly Father, Hebrews, held, help, Helping, Holy Spirit, hope, iniquity, iron, Jesus, jobs, lead, Lord, Lord of Hosts, Lord's free men, Lord's name, man, Master, name of God, obtain, occupations, Omnipotence, overcome, overcomer, overflow, persuaded, power, Promise, protector, reference, relationships, resist, riding, ruling, saints, salvation, save, Savior, sin-destroying, sins, slay, slivers, strength, strong, struggles, temptations, trials, tribulations, triumph, trust, valor, ventures, victory, war, warfare, weak, weakness, weapons, win, within, work, zProvider
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Our Holiest Example
December 2
I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. (Psalm 16:8)
This is the way to live. With God always before us, we shall have the noblest companionship, the holiest example, the sweetest consolation, and the mightiest influence. This must be a resolute act of the mind. “I have set,” and it must be maintained as a set and settled thing. Always to have an eye to the Lord’s eye and an ear for the Lord’s voice–this is the right state for the godly man. His God is near him, filling the horizon of his vision, leading the way of his life, and furnishing the theme of his meditation. What vanities we should avoid, what sins we should overcome, what virtues we should exhibit, what joys we should experience if we did indeed set the Lord always before us! Why not?
This is the way to be safe. The Lord being ever in our minds, we come to feel safety and certainty because of His being so near. He is at our right hand to guide and aid us; and hence we are not moved by fear, nor force, nor fraud, nor fickleness. When God stands at a man’s right hand, that man is himself sure to stand. Come on, then, ye foemen of the truth! Rush against me like a furious tempest, if ye will. God upholds me. God abides with me. Whom shall I fear?
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Tags: abides, act, against, aid, almighty, always, avoid, battles, before, being, believer, certainty, Christ, Christian, Christianity, Comforter, companionship, consolattion, Elohim, ever, example, exhibit, experience, eye, Faith, family, Fear, fickleness, filling, foeman, force, fraud, friendship, furious, furnishing, God, God's Son, godly, guide, hand, Heavenly Father, help, helper, holiest, holiness, Holy Spirit, hope, horizon, influence, Jehovah, Jesus, joys, lead, leading, Life, live, living, Lord, Lord's eye, maintained, man, man's rightt hand, meditation, mightiest, mind, minds, moved, near, noblest, not, overcome, prayer, protect, protection, protector, provide, Provider, provision, resolute, right, right hand, right state, rush, safe, safety, Savior, set, settled, sins, State, Storms, struggles, sweetest, tempest, temptations, theme, trials, tribulations, truth, unafraid, upholds, vanities, virtues, vision, way, Yahweh, Yeshua
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
True Walking Posture
December 1
He that walketh uprightly walketh surely. (Proverbs 10:9)
His walk may be slow, but it is sure. He that hasteth to be rich shall not be innocent nor sure; but steady perseverance in integrity, if it does not bring riches, will certainly bring peace. In doing that which is just and right, we are like one walking upon a rock, for we have confidence that every step we take is upon solid and safe ground. On the other hand, the utmost success through questionable transactions must always be hollow and treacherous, and the man who has gained it must always be afraid that a day of reckoning will come, and then his gains will condemn him.
Let us stick to truth and righteousness. By God’s grace let us imitate our Lord and Master, in whose mouth no deceit was ever found. Let us not be afraid of being poor, nor of being treated with contempt. Never, on any account whatever, let us do that which our conscience cannot justify. If we lose inward peace, we lose more than a fortune can buy. If we keep in the Lord’s own way and never sin against our conscience, our way is sure against all comers. Who is he that can harm us if we be followers of that which is good? We may be thought fools by fools if we are firm in our integrity; but in the place where judgment is infallible we shall be approved.
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Tags: account, afraid, against, almighty, approved, Belief, buy, Christ, Christianity, comers, Comforter, condemn, confidence, conscience, contempt, day of reckoning, deceit, Elohim, firm, followers, fools, fortune, found, gain, God, God's grace, God's Son, good, ground, guide, guilt, harm, haste, Heavenly Faatheer, holiness, hollow, Holy Spirit, imitate, infallible, innocense, integrity, inward, Jehovah, Jesus, judgment, just, justify, Life, Lord, lose, Master, mouth, peace, perseverance, place, poor, Promise, protector, Provider, questionable, rich, right, righteousness, rock, safe, salvation, Savior, sin, slow, solid, sready, step, stick, success, sure, taken, thought, transactions, treacherous, treated, truth, upright, utmost, walk, way, Yahweh, Yeshua
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Necessary Knowledge
November 9
Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 34:30)
To be the Lord’s own people is a choice blessing, but to know that we are such is a comfortable blessing. It is one thing to hope that God is with us and another thing to know that He is so. Faith saves us, but assurance satisfies us. We take God to be our God when we believe in Him; but we get the joy of Him when we know that He is ours and that we are His. No believer should be content with hoping and trusting; he should ask the Lord to lead him on to full assurance, so that matters of hope may become matters of certainty.
It is when we enjoy covenant blessings and see our Lord Jesus raised up for us as a plant of renown that we come to a clear knowledge of the favor of God toward us. Not by law, but by grace do we learn that we are the Lord’s people. Let us always turn our eyes in the direction of free grace. Assurance of faith can never come by the works of the law. It is an evangelical virtue and can only reach us in a gospel way. Let us not look within. Let us look to the Lord alone. As we see Jesus we shall see our salvation.
Lord, send us such a flood-tide of Thy love that we shall be washed beyond the mire of doubt and fear.
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Tags: abiding, almighty, alone, ask, assurance, Believe, believers, belonging, beyond, blessing, certainty, choice, Christ, clear, comfortable, Comforter, content, contentment, covenant blessing, direction, doubt, Elohim, evangelical, Eyes, Faith, favor of God, Fear, flood-tide, followers, free grace, full assurance, gentile believers, God, God's people, God's Son, Gospel, grace, guidance, guide, Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit, hope, hoping, house of Israeel, Jehovah, Jesus, joy, know, knowledge, law, lead, learn, look, Lord, Lord's people, love, matters, mire, our, people, plant, Pray, prayer, Promise, prophecy, Provider, raised up, reach, recognize, renown, salvation, satisfies, saves, Savior, see, send, take, toward, trusting, turn, virtue, washed, way, with, within, works, Yahweh, Yeshua
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
From Every Sin
October 20
He shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)
Lord, save me from my sins. By the name of Jesus I am encouraged thus to pray. Save me from my past sins, that the habit of them may not hold me captive. Save me from my constitutional sins, that I may not be the slave of my own weaknesses. Save me from the sins which are continually under my eye that I may not lose my horror of them. Save me from secret sins; sins unperceived by me from my want of light. Save me from sudden and surprising sins: let me not be carried off my feet by a rush of temptation. Save me, Lord, from every sin. Let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
Thou alone canst do this. I cannot snap my own chains or slay my own enemies. Thou knowest temptation, for Thou wast tempted. Thou knowest sin, for Thou didst bear the weight of it. Thou knowest how to succor me in my hour of conflict; Thou canst save me from sinning and save me when I have sinned. It is promised in Thy very name that Thou wilt do this, and I pray Thee let me this day verify the prophecy. Let me not give way to temper, or pride, or despondency, or any form of evil; but do Thou save me unto holiness of life, that the name of Jesus may be glorified in me abundantly.
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Tags: almighty, captive, Christ, Comforter, constitutional, Cross, Elohim, encouragement, God, God's Son, grace, guide, habits, Heavenly Father, hidden, holiness, Holy Spirit, ignorance, iniquity, Jehovah, Jesus.Lord, mercy, Past, people, Pray, Promise, sacrifice, salvation, save, Savior, secret, sin, slavery, surprise, temptation, Yahweh, Yeshua
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
The Leadership of Our Guide
October 6
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. (John 16:13)
Truth is like a vast cavern into which we desire to enter, but we are not able to traverse it alone. At the entrance it is clear and bright; but if we would go further and explore its innermost recesses, we must have a guide, or we shall lose ourselves. The Holy Spirit, who knows all truth perfectly, is the appointed guide of all true believers, and He conducts them as they are able to bear it, from one inner chamber to another, so that they behold the deep things of God, and His secret is made plain to them.
What a promise is this for the humbly inquiring mind! We desire to know the truth and to enter into it. We are conscious of our own aptness to err, and we feel the urgent need of a guide. We rejoice that the Holy Spirit is come and abides among us. He condescends to act as a guide to us, and we gladly accept His leadership. “All truth” we wish to learn, that we may not be one-sided and out of balance. We would not be willingly ignorant of any part of revelation lest thereby we should miss blessing or incur sin. The Spirit of God has come that He may guide us into all truth: let us with obedient hearts hearken to His words and follow His lead.
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Tags: bright, cavern, Christ, clear, confusion, Elohim, entrance, err, explore, God, guide, Heavenly Father, help, Holy Spirit, hope, ignorance, Jehovah, Jesus, light, Lord, Promise, Provider, Savior, sin, Spirit of Truth, teacher, traverse, truth, wisdom, Yahweh, Yeshua
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
A Guide All the Way
July 3
He will be my guide even unto death. (Psalm 48:14)
We need a guide. Sometimes we would give all that we have to be told exactly what to do and where to turn. We are willing to do right, but we do not know which one of two roads we are to follow. Oh, for a guide!
The Lord our God condescends to serve us as guide. He knows the way and will pilot us along it till we reach our journey’s end in peace. Surely we do not desire more infallible direction. Let us place ourselves absolutely under His guidance, and we shall never miss our way. Let us make Him our God, and we shall find Him our guide. If we follow His law we shall not miss the right road of life, provided we first learn to lean upon Him in every step that we take.
Our comfort is that as He is our God forever and ever, He will never cease to be with us as our guide. “Even unto death” will He lead us, and then we shall dwell with Him eternally and go no more out forever. This promise of divine guidance involves lifelong security: salvation at once, guidance unto our last hour, and then endless blessedness. Should not each one seek this in youth, rejoice in it in middle life, and repose in it in old age? This day let us look up for guidance before we trust ourselves out-of-doors.
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Tags: assurance, Christ, Death, direction, Elohim, Faith, faithfulness, God, guidance, guide, Heavenly Father, help, Holy Spirit, hope, Jehovah, Jesus, joy, Lord, midlife, old age, Promise, rest, right, roads, salvation, Savior, sins, trust, wrong, Yahweh, youth
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
A Sure Guide
March 23
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 knows, and He will lead us till we shall have escaped every danger. Happy are those who place their hand in that of the great Guide and leave their way and themselves entirely with Him. He will bring them all the way; and when He has brought them home to glory and has opened their eyes to see the way by which He has led them, what a song of gratitude will they sing unto their great Benefactor! Lord, lead Thy poor blind child this day, for I know not my way!
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Tags: blind, condescension, God, guide, hand, Heavenly Father, help, Holy Spirit, hope, Jehovah, Jesus, lead, Lord, lost, path, Promise, road, traverse, unknown, Yahweh
forhisgloryandpraise 
You must be logged in to post a comment.