Morning By Morning #1

That year they ate of the produce of Canaan.

Joshua 5:12

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

Israel’s weary wanderings were now at an end, and the rest that had been promised was at hand. There would be no more roving tents, poisonous snakes, fierce Amalekites, nor any howling windswept wilderness. They had come to the “land flowing with milk and honey” (Ex. 3:8) and were able to eat of the grain already growing there.

Dear Christian, perhaps this will be the case for you this year. This is a joyful prospect, and if our faith is active, it will yield pure unvarnished delight. For God’s people to be given the blessing of resting in Jesus is an uplifting thought indeed, and to see the glory of it in this life is a double blessing. Unbelief may cause us to shudder at the Jordan that still separates us from the Promised Land, but we may rest assured that this life has already caused us more pain and trials than death at its worst could inflict. So may we banish every fear and, instead, rejoice with exceedingly great joy at the prospect that this year we could actually begin our time to “be with the Lord forever” (1 Thess.4:17).

Of course, a number of us will remain on earth this year in order to serve the Lord. If this is the case for us, there is still no reason why today’s verse would not be true. “We who have believed enter that rest” (Heb. 4:3). “The promised Holy Spirit…is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance” (Eph. 1:13–14), which has already been granted to us here below. Those above are secure in heaven just as we are secure in Christ Jesus; those in heaven are victorious and we experience victories as well. The heavenly beings enjoy communion with the Lord, yet this is not denied to us; they rest in His love, and we have perfect peace in Him; and they sing His praises, a privilege we share in order to bless Him.

This year we will gather heavenly fruit on earthly ground where faith and hope have turned the desert into the Lord’s garden. If “men ate the bread of angels” (Ps. 78:25) long ago, why not today?

May God grant us the grace to feed on Jesus and thereby eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan this year!

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

It seems we often approach a new year with mixed emotions, sometimes hesitant to let go of the past, even as difficult as our past year may have been. We tend to view the past with the idea that at least it is something known, while we view the future as a complete unknown. For believers, however, this should not be the case. Although we do not know the future in detail, we know the One who has made great promises to us as He guides us there.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Jeremiah 29:11-13

Father, may we enter this new year in complete reliance and trust, knowing our steps into the unknown have been ordained by You. May our walk with You be one of dedicated obedience to Your Word and Your will, that You may be glorified in and through us.