The Christian’s Family Badge
“Discipline is one of the chief marks of our lawful and honorable birth … Joy within we may expect—‘joy unspeakable and full of glory,’ for that is the family portion. But joy from without, the joy of earth's sunshine, the joy of the world's ease and abundance, the joy of unsevered bonds and unweeping eyes, is not our lot in this vale of tears. Still, in the midst of the ever-wakeful storms through which we are passing to the Kingdom, there is peace—deep peace, too deep for any storm of earth to reach. In the world we have tribulation, but in Jesus we have peace. Let us hold it fast.”
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The Image of Christ
In today’s post, we share a devotional from Jeremy Walker’s A Word in Season: 50 Days of Hope for Hard Times. He writes, “In the midst of all the sufferings, sorrows, pains, problems, weaknesses, and weariness of this world and in this body, let God’s people look forward with eagerness to the day when—though we currently bear the image of the man of dust—we shall bear the image of the heavenly Man . . .”
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Letters of Thomas Charles V: Spiritual Appetite
In this episode of The Whole Counsel Podcast, Dr. John Snyder explores Thomas Charles’s essay on spiritual appetite, written in 1782. Charles compares the believer’s hunger for God to physical hunger, explaining that spiritual food provides both nourishment and delight. A poor spiritual appetite is a sign of spiritual decay and must be dealt with immediately, lest we endanger ourselves and grieve our God by becoming “walking skeletons’ instead of flourishing Christians. He also challenges the idea that spiritual fervor naturally fades with age, urging believers to guard their affections and pursue a growing hunger for God throughout their lives.
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How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds
John Newton, the author of “Amazing Grace”, wrote over 300 hymns, including this beautiful, Christ-exalting one: “How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds in a believer’s ear. It soothes his sorrow, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear.” Read the rest in today's post!
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Letters of Thomas Charles IV: How Does God Guide His People?
In today’s episode of the Whole Counsel, Dr. John Snyder returns to the writings of Thomas Charles to explore how believers should approach life decisions. Instead of offering a formula for discovering God’s will in every decision, Charles presents a broader, more biblical vision: the Christian life is a life of following the living God.
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The Incomprehensible God
To enlarge our thoughts of God’s majesty, we must look to Scripture to see what He says about Himself. If we will humbly set our hearts and minds to examine God’s self-revelation, we need not be discouraged by His incomprehensibility. In reality, incomprehensibility is one of the shining features of God’s splendor, the weight of His majesty. It is a truth that separates Him from all else.
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
—Romans 11:3
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Letters of Thomas Charles III: Where Does Assurance Rest?
In this episode of The Whole Counsel, Dr. John Snyder continues the series on Thomas Charles’s pastoral letters, focusing on a letter he wrote to his newlywed wife, Sally. She was still struggling with doubts about her spiritual condition and assurance of salvation. Charles responds with tenderness but also with strengthening words.
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12 Reasons to Go to Church on Rainy Sundays
Today’s devotional is taken from an article written in 1916 by Frances Havergal titled “Why I Go to Church on Rainy Sabbaths.” In it, she lists 12 reasons that she believes church attendance is not something to be taken lightly.
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Letters of Thomas Charles II: Doubting Love
In this week’s episode of The Whole Counsel Podcast, Dr. John Snyder discusses a letter from Thomas Charles to his future wife, Sally. It seems Sally is troubled, worried that she does not love God or does not love Him well enough. Thomas addresses this and a second matter: “Do you believe that God loves you?” as he attempts to uplift Sally’s heavy heart.
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Overcoming Spiritual Depression
“In a world where everything has gone so sadly astray, we should be standing out as people characterized by a fundamental joy and certainty in spite of conditions, in spite of adversity. Now that, I think you will agree, is the picture which is given of God's people everywhere in the Scriptures.“ What does Martyn Lloyd-Jones tell us is the foundation of this joy?
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Being Renewed
Retirement from business, with an independence and full honors, grows burdensome, though desired and laboured for through a long life. After a degree of success, wealth, and reputation, the soldier becomes weary of his triumphs, and longs for repose. But the man who is filled with the Holy Spirit, and cultivates the habits of contemplation and action excited by grace, will find the service of Jesus more and more delightful.
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