On January 1, 1713, the Bible commentator Matthew Henry wrote the reflections below that feel especially timely as I enter the new year of 2026. As I read them, I am reminded how impossible it is to live up to such devotion without God’s help. May our gracious God guide and strengthen me, helping me to approach this year with the same spirit of submission and commitment that Henry exemplified in his writing:
Continue reading “A New Year Devotion from Matthew Henry: Trusting Our Times to God”
I was reading Thomas Brooks’ The Crown and Glory of Christianity, and his chapter on “Eight means, helps, and directions for progress in holiness,” stood out to me. I wanted to jot down some of my takeaways as reminders and encouragement.
Continue reading “Eight Helps for Progress in Holiness (from Thomas Brooks)”
This quotation by a 17th-century pastor, Willem Teellinck, reminds me of God’s sovereign providence and offers encouragement in light of today’s news and event (from Redeeming the Time, p. 36):
“When you begin to consider the things which are happening all over the world, always remember that the Lord is working in them. He who can bring light out of darkness, will yet from the completed and combined work bring forth something glorious. Be not therefore too much vexed that there appears somewhere to come an ill stroke in your own affairs, or in the affairs of God’s people in your day, as is now the case; for the Lord would not permit this to take place, did He not mean to use it as a background to give the whole work a more beautiful lustre.”
From Thomas Watson’s Sermon, The Spiritual Watch:
Keep your heart as you would keep a garden. Your heart is a garden (Song of Solomon 4:12); weed all sin out of your heart. Among the flowers of the heart, weeds will be growing—the weeds of pride, malice, and covetousness: these grow without planting and cultivating. Therefore be weeding your heart daily by prayer, examination, and repentance.
Weeds hinder the herbs and flowers from growing; the weeds of corruption—hinder the growth of grace. Where the weed of unbelief grows—it hinders the flower of faith from growing.
Weeds spoil the walkways. Christ will not walk in a heart overgrown with weeds and briars. Christ was sometimes among the lilies (Song of Solomon 6:3)—but never among the thistles.
Reading a troubling news yesterday made this quotation poignant to me:
“And therefore: Let us stay our faith here, that our Lord is still working in all these confusions. And when matters are turned upside down to human appearance, our blessed Lord is not nonplussed and at a stand when we are; he knows well what he is doing, and will make all things most certainly, infallibly, and infrustrably to work for his own glory, and for the good of his people.”
—James Durham, Christ Crucified: The Marrow of the Gospel in 72 Sermons on Isaiah 53, Sermon 34 (on Isa. 53.9), p. 358
In a recent gathering, I was asked a simple icebreaker: “If you could be like one thing, what would it be and why?” As my turn approached, I pondered the possibilities. I finally answered that I wish to be like salt. Salt possesses characteristic traits that mirror the kind of person I hope to become in Christ. Since that gathering, I’ve noticed more of the ways salt teaches spiritual lessons.
Continue reading “More Than a Seasoning: Why I Want to Be Like Salt”
There is a unique magic in holding a book that has survived for over 150 years. I love antiquarian books. Not only were they built to last for posterity, but they were also made with remarkable beauty, often adorned with gold engraving, careful decoration, and sturdy bindings that serve as a testament to the value society once placed on the written word.
I became the joyful owner of an 1851 edition of A Practical Directory for Young Christian Females: Being a Series of Letters from a Brother to a Younger Sister by Harvey Newcomb. It is still excellent condition. One of the joys of owning antiquarian books is the surprise of finding treasures tucked within their pages left behind by previous owners. For instance, I’ve found an old note written in beautiful penmanship and even a few dried leaves pressed between the pages. I’d like to imagine these artifacts have actually survived since the mid-1800’s. 🙂
Continue reading “A Practical Directory for Young Christian Females: A Timeless Christian Classic”
I love the Puritans, lists (of all kinds), and pithy quotations. So it was only natural to combine these three favorite things together from my reading.
This list is a great encouragement to mortify sin daily, yet at the same time reminds me of how I’ve fallen woefully short of God’s standard in my daily battle against sin. But thanks be to God for His mercy and Christ’s imputed righteousness, that I (who is inherently unrighteous) may approach His throne of grace by faith and be declared positionally “righteous” on the basis of Christ’s perfect merits.
Continue reading “Be Killing Sin or It Will Be Killing You: Puritan Quotes on Mortification”