Morning, August 22
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Yearning for the Divine Embrace

Have you ever felt a deep longing in your soul that only a spiritual connection can fulfill? Have you ever yearned for a deeper relationship with Jesus? Have you ever felt lost and incomplete without His presence?

O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you, if you find my beloved, tell him I am sick with love. — Songs 5:8

Believers, full of deep affection for Jesus, often find themselves yearning for His immediate fellowship. They feel a certain kind of spiritual sickness, an unease when they sense a distance between them and Christ. For these faithful souls, peace resides in the state of nearness to Him. The closer they are to Jesus, the closer they are to the tranquility of heaven.

Jesus is to us what the sun is to the day, what the moon is to the night, and what the dew is to the flower. He satisfies the hunger of the soul, clothes the naked spirit, and provides shelter to the weary traveler, just like the shadow of a great rock in a barren land. When we do not feel at one with Him, our spirit echoes the plea of Songs 5:8: "O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you, if you find my beloved, tell him I am sick with love.."

This deep longing for Jesus is a blessed state. As the Scripture says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." So even more blessed are those who thirst after the Righteous One, Jesus Himself. In the midst of spiritual longing, the promise of His presence provides hope. Jesus will certainly satisfy this spiritual hunger, and His arrival will bring the sweetest relief.

Lord Jesus, stir in us a longing only You can satisfy.
Guide our hearts closer to You.
May our spiritual hunger lead us to Your divine banquet.
Let us find sweet relief in Your comforting presence.


Questions for Reflection

1. How have you experienced this "sickness of love" described in Songs 5:8?
2. In what ways have you felt the peace that comes from being close to Jesus?
3. How does the image of Jesus as the sun, moon, and dew relate to your personal spiritual experiences?
4. What practical steps can you take to fulfill your spiritual hunger?
5. How can you transform your longing for Jesus into active pursuit of righteousness?
6. How does Jesus fulfill the roles of sustainer, protector, and satisfier in your life?
7. How does the concept of being "blessed" in longing resonate with your personal spiritual journey?
8. How do you feel when you consider Jesus's certain arrival to satisfy your spiritual hunger?
9. How does the promise of being filled with Christ influence your outlook on future trials?
10. How does the experience of longing for Jesus compare with other desires in your life?

Supporting Scriptures

Song of Solomon 3:1-4: Song of Solomon 3:1
Song of Solomon 2:16: Song of Solomon 2:16
Psalm 63:1-8: A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.
Isaiah 26:9: My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
Psalm 42:1-2: For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God.
Jeremiah 29:13: You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
Matthew 7:7-8: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

Dawn and Dusk: Scriptures, Devotions, and Prayers. Inspired by Charles Haddon Spurgeon's Morning and Evening: Daily Readings. You are free to copy as needed for noncommercial personal and ministry use.

Bible League: Living His Word
"But when you pray, you should go into your room and close the door. Then pray to your Father. He is there in that private place. He can see what is done in private, and he will reward you."

Our verse for today is not speaking against public prayer in general. Jesus himself did not limit His prayer to private prayer. He prayed with His disciples (John 17:11-19). He even burst into individual prayer in public on occasion (Luke 10:21). Rather, Jesus was against ostentatious public prayer (Matthew 6:5). He was against prayer that is a conspicuous show designed to impress others, rather than to communicate with God.

Nevertheless, Jesus implies here that there are some prayers that should never be made in public. There are some prayers that are solely between a person and God. Jesus himself would often withdraw from the crowds and His disciples and pray by himself: "After Jesus said goodbye to the people, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. It was late, and he was there alone" (Matthew 14:23). There are some things that you can say to God in private that should not be said in public. There are some things that are nobody else's business.

When we withdraw from the public to our private place of prayer we can be sure that God is there with us. He comes near to us when we come near to Him (James 4:8). Psalm 91:1-4 tells us that the private place of communion with God is a hiding place of safety and protection from the trials, troubles, and tribulations of life. In that place God will cover and protect us like a bird that spreads its wings over its young. Like David, we can say in that place, "You are my place of safety, my fortress. My God, I trust in you."

There are benefits to be had for coming to the private place and communing with God. In harmony with our verse for today, Hebrews 11:6 says that God "rewards those who sincerely try to find him." God is the Lord of heaven and earth. When we acknowledge the Lord's status by turning to Him instead of turning to anything or anyone else, He is pleased with us and rewards us.

Today, then, enter the private place of prayer and receive from God the rewards He has for you.

Bible in a Year
Old Testament Reading
Psalm 119:49-104


Psalm 119 -- Blessed are those whose ways are blameless

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New Testament Reading
1 Corinthians 4


1 Corinthians 4 -- Apostles Are Servants of Christ

  NIV   NLT   ESV   NAS   GWT   KJV   ASV   ERV   DRB


Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library.
Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion
Jesus replied, “My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going. Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.”
Insight
Jesus said he would be with them in person for only a short time, and they should take advantage of his presence while they had it. Like a light shining in a dark place, he would point out the way they should walk. If they walked in his light, they would become “children of the light,” revealing the truth and pointing people to God.
Challenge
As Christians, we are to be Christ's light bearers, letting his light shine through us. How brightly is your light shining? Can others see Christ in your actions?
Morning and Evening by Spurgeon
Songs 5:8  I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.

Such is the language of the believer panting after present fellowship with Jesus, he is sick for his Lord. Gracious souls are never perfectly at ease except they are in a state of nearness to Christ; for when they are away from him they lose their peace. The nearer to him, the nearer to the perfect calm of heaven; the nearer to him, the fuller the heart is, not only of peace, but of life, and vigor, and joy, for these all depend on constant intercourse with Jesus. What the sun is to the day, what the moon is to the night, what the dew is to the flower, such is Jesus Christ to us. What bread is to the hungry, clothing to the naked, the shadow of a great rock to the traveller in a weary land, such is Jesus Christ to us; and, therefore, if we are not consciously one with him, little marvel if our spirit cries in the words of the Song, "I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, tell him that I am sick of love." This earnest longing after Jesus has a blessing attending it: "Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness;" and therefore, supremely blessed are they who thirst after the Righteous One. Blessed is that hunger, since it comes from God: if I may not have the full-blown blessedness of being filled, I would seek the same blessedness in its sweet bud-pining in emptiness and eagerness till I am filled with Christ. If I may not feed on Jesus, it shall be next door to heaven to hunger and thirst after him. There is a hallowedness about that hunger, since it sparkles among the beatitudes of our Lord. But the blessing involves a promise. Such hungry ones "shall be filled" with what they are desiring. If Christ thus causes us to long after himself, he will certainly satisfy those longings; and when he does come to us, as come he will, oh, how sweet it will be!

Daily Light on the Daily Path
Romans 14:7  For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself;

Romans 14:8  for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.

1 Corinthians 10:24  Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.

1 Corinthians 6:20  For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

Philippians 1:20-23  according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. • For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. • But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. • But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;

Galatians 2:19,20  "For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. • "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org.

Evening August 21
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