October 29 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:20).

Devotional

In Matthew 18:20, we have this encouraging declaration from Christ, "For where two or three are gathered in my Name, there am I among them." Compare this with Exodus 20:24, "In every place where I cause my Name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you." Thus the reader will perceive that the identical promise which God gave to his ancient church when he established her in the wilderness, when he gave to her the Law, built for her the tabernacle, and instituted for her a sacrifice, the Lord Jesus makes of himself.

Consoling thought! Jesus is with his saints at all times, in all places, and under all circumstances. He is "God with us." He is with them to comfort them in the hour of sorrow, to enlighten them in the hour of darkness, to guide them in the hour of doubt and perplexity, to deliver them in the time of conflict, to support them in the hour of death.

Oh for faith to realize this! He was with his three faithful servants in the fiery furnace. He was with Daniel in the lions' den. He was with Jacob in his wrestlings at Bethel. He was with John in his exile at Patmos. Jesus is at all times, in all places, and under all circumstances, with his dear people.

O reader, are you a child of sorrow? Perhaps you are a son or a daughter of affliction. You may now be passing through the furnace. You may now be draining adversity's bitter cup. The rod of the covenant may be heavy upon you. Friends may be unkind, the world empty, everything earthly changing, faith weak, corruptions strong, and—what embitters the cup, and deepens the shade—your Father hiding from you his dear reconciled face.

Is it so? Still is your Jesus with you. Do not be cast down. This furnace is but to consume the tin and burnish the gold. This draught is but to work your inward good. These painful dispensations, by which you are learning the changeableness of everything earthly, are but to wean you from a poor, unsatisfying world, and to draw you near and yet nearer to Jesus.

Then be of good cheer, for he has promised never to leave or forsake you. Therefore, you may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear" (Heb. 13:6).

Dying with Jesus, by death reckoned mine;
living with Jesus, a new life divine;
looking to Jesus till glory doth shine,
moment by moment, O Lord, I am thine.

(Refrain:)
Moment by moment, I'm kept in his love;
moment by moment, I've life from above;
looking to Jesus till glory doth shine,
moment by moment, O Lord, I am thine.

Never a trial that he is not there,
never a burden that he doth not bear,
never a sorrow that he doth not share,
moment by moment I'm under his care.

(Daniel W. Whittle, 1840-1901)

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2011.