January 4 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." (2 Corinthians 13:14).

Devotional

To the Christian, the doctrine of the Trinity is the key to the Bible. When the Spirit imparts skill and power to use it, then it unlocks the divine arcade of mysteries. It throws open every door in the blest sanctuary of truth.

But its fitness and beauty most distinctly appear in the light of salvation—salvation in which Jehovah appears so inimitably glorious, so like himself. The Father's love appears in "sending" his Son; the Son's love in "undertaking" the work; the Holy Spirit's love in "applying" the work. Oh, it is delightful to see how, in working out the mighty problem of human redemption, the Divine Three were thus deeply engaged. With which of these could we have dispensed? All are needed; and if any one had been lacking, our salvation would have been incomplete and we would have been eternally lost. In bringing to glory the church they thus have saved, the sacred Three are solemnly pledged.

And in the matter of prayer, how sustaining to faith, and how soothing to the mind, when you can embrace in your ascending petitions, the blessed Three in One. "For through him [the Son] we both have access in one Spirit to the Father" (Eph 2:18).

Come, thou Almighty King,
help us thy name to sing,
help us to praise:
Father, all glorious,
o'er all victorious,
come, and reign over us,
Ancient of Days.

Come, thou Incarnate Word,
gird on thy mighty sword,
our prayer attend:
come and thy people bless,
and give thy Word success;
Spirit of holiness,
on us descend.

Come, Holy Comforter,
thy sacred witness bear
in this glad hour:
thou who almighty art,
now rule in every heart,
and ne'er from us depart,
Spirit of power.

To the great One in Three
eternal praises be,
hence evermore.
his sovereign majesty
may we in glory see,
and to eternity
love and adore.

(Anon., circa 1757)

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 2025.