Life's busy, read it when you're ready!

Create a free account to save articles for later, keep track of past articles you’ve read, and receive exclusive access to all RP resources.

Search thousands of RP articles

Articles, news, and reviews that celebrate God's truth.

Get Articles Delivered!

Articles, news, and reviews that celebrate God's truth. delivered direct to your Inbox!





Daily devotional

March 14 - Christ our prophet (I)

“and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”” - Matthew 17:5 Scripture reading: Deuteronomy 18:15-22 Jesus is, as Peter confessed, the Christ of God (Luke 9:20). Christ means anointed and He fulfills the three Old Testament offices of prophet, priest, and king that required being anointed with oil upon entering the office. Moses was the great Old Testament prophet of God. He spoke to the people of God on God’s behalf because they were terrified of the voice of the Lord. Moses was God’s spokesman. God said He would put His words in Moses’s mouth and Moses would speak them to the people. To reject the voice of Moses was to reject the voice of God. God promised that one day He would raise up for His people a prophet like Moses. He fulfilled the promise in Jesus, the Anointed. Jesus did miracles to authenticate His preaching just as Moses was able to do powerful signs to verify the legitimacy of his ministry (Exodus 4:1-9, 28-31). In fact, when Jesus raised the widow of Nain’s son the people exclaimed, “A great prophet has arisen amongst us!” (Luke 7:16). As the Prophet of God, Jesus speaks words of eternal life (John 6:68). As the Word of God Himself, He came to make God known (John 1:18). As our Lord Jesus stood on the Mount of Transfiguration with two great Old Testament prophets, Moses and Elijah, the voice of the Father sounded from heaven commanding us to listen to the Lord Jesus. If we do not honour the Son, we do not honour the Father who sent Him (John 5:23). Suggestions for prayer Ask the Lord to give us hearing ears and a submissive heart so that we may honour the Father by honouring the Lord Jesus, our Prophet. Rev. John van Eyk began his ministry in Cambridge, Ontario as a Church Planter and Minister of the Riverside Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. After 13 years there, he served almost 10 years in the Tain/Fearn congregation of the Associated Presbyterian Churches in the Scottish Highlands. John has served as Senior Pastor of Trinity Reformed Church (United Reformed) in Lethbridge, Alberta since 2017. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

March 13 - Christ’s miracles 

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know–” - Acts 2:22  Scripture reading: Mark 1:29-39 Jesus did a lot of miracles. And yet, in Mark 1:38, He considers preaching as the reason He came. What place do His miracles play in His ministry? First, as Peter mentions in his Pentecost sermon, God did works, wonders and signs through Jesus to commend Him publicly. God was putting His seal of approval on Jesus’s ministry. Second, miracles are illustrations of Jesus’s preaching. He had come, Mark 1:14-15 tells us, to proclaim the gospel and kingdom of God. What was the good news of God and His kingdom? Certainly this: the tyranny of sin was over. Jesus Christ had come to set things right. By His death on the cross Jesus would reverse the curse and make all things new. A new day had dawned in the history of God’s dealings with His creation. Well, what does that look like? What does the reverse of the curse mean? Jesus illustrates this by His miracles. Diseases and demonic oppression are a result of sin. When Jesus heals sickness and drives out demons, He pushes back against the kingdom of darkness. These miracles are glimpses of His redemptive work. But they are always temporary. For example, Lazarus died again. But miracles also look forward. Christ’s first coming is the dawning of the kingdom. The full arrival of His kingdom is in the future. Then sin and its effects will be eradicated and all things made new. He preached this in His sermons and illustrated it by His miracles. Suggestions for prayer Praise God that we can look forward to the day when all things will become new and ask Him to hasten that day. Pray that the gospel of the kingdom would be heralded among the nations so that people would place their trust in Jesus. Rev. John van Eyk began his ministry in Cambridge, Ontario as a Church Planter and Minister of the Riverside Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. After 13 years there, he served almost 10 years in the Tain/Fearn congregation of the Associated Presbyterian Churches in the Scottish Highlands. John has served as Senior Pastor of Trinity Reformed Church (United Reformed) in Lethbridge, Alberta since 2017. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

March 12 - Christ’s compassion 

“. . . a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope.” - Matthew 12:20  Scripture reading: Mark 6:7-34 Our passage today recounts the mission of the twelve apostles and the beheading of our Lord’s forerunner, John the Baptizer. Burdened by the death of John and knowing His disciples were wearied by the constant coming and going of the people, Jesus invites His disciples to come with Him to a desolate place for some rest. The people saw them go and reached the place of repose before them. Jesus, seeing the crowds, had compassion on them and began to teach them many things. Here we see the compassionate heart of the Lord. He saw the crowds were bereft of spiritual care and, although He was weary and hungry, He ministered to them. He pities His people left in such difficult conditions because of human sin. In His sympathetic ministry to them He comes with gentleness. He knows our frailty, understands human weakness, and by grace, treats us with a tenderness that doesn’t break us in our fragility and quench what spiritual life we have. Our need draws His attention to us. Mark tells us that Jesus’s compassion led Him to teach them many things. Certainly, His teaching must have been about Himself as He invited labouring and heavy-laden people to come to Him for rest for their souls (Matthew 11:28-29). And if His compassion is displayed in His teaching the shepherd-less crowds, what does His death as the Lamb of God demonstrate? Surely, immeasurable compassion! Happy are those who are loved by this Saviour! Suggestions for prayer Cast all your burdens upon the Lord knowing that you have a sympathetic High Priest as God’s right hand. Thank the Lord Jesus for His kind compassion in ministering to our spiritual needs. Rev. John van Eyk began his ministry in Cambridge, Ontario as a Church Planter and Minister of the Riverside Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. After 13 years there, he served almost 10 years in the Tain/Fearn congregation of the Associated Presbyterian Churches in the Scottish Highlands. John has served as Senior Pastor of Trinity Reformed Church (United Reformed) in Lethbridge, Alberta since 2017. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

 March 11- Christ’s temptations 

“For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” - 2 Corinthians 15:21-22  Scripture reading: Luke 4:1-13 Matthew and Luke both record Jesus’s temptations in the wilderness. Although the accounts are similar, the contexts help us to understand the particular point the authors are making about Jesus. Luke 3 ends with a genealogy of the Lord Jesus going all the way to Adam. Immediately, Luke records Jesus’s temptations. Luke is contrasting the unfaithful first Adam and the faithful last Adam. Both were tempted by Satan. Adam, living in the beauty of the Garden of Eden, capitulated to the enemy. Jesus, led by the Spirit into the wilderness, resisted the devil so that he departed from Him. The last Adam was successful where the first Adam failed. Jesus is qualified to be our Redeemer, to undo the ruin Adam had brought. Matthew’s focus is different. In Matthew’s gospel Jesus is the new Israel. Like Israel, God’s son (Exodus 4:22), Jesus is the Son of God and, like Israel, He was called out of Egypt (Matthew 2:15). Like Israel, Jesus was brought into the wilderness. Unlike Israel, Jesus proved to be faithful. You will notice that Jesus’s quotations of the Scriptures are all from Deuteronomy where Moses recounts God’s wilderness dealings with Israel. Where Israel failed, Jesus was successful. In both scenarios, Jesus as the last Adam and Jesus as the new Israel, is promoted as the One to Whom we must be united by faith. Only in union with Jesus will we both enjoy God without being driven from His presence and be welcomed into the Promised Land of His favour. Suggestions for prayer Praise God that in union with Jesus Christ, we will never be driven from His presence like our first parents. Thank God for Jesus’s faithfulness in His temptations and that through Him we shall enjoy God’s presence forever. Rev. John van Eyk began his ministry in Cambridge, Ontario as a Church Planter and Minister of the Riverside Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. After 13 years there, he served almost 10 years in the Tain/Fearn congregation of the Associated Presbyterian Churches in the Scottish Highlands. John has served as Senior Pastor of Trinity Reformed Church (United Reformed) in Lethbridge, Alberta since 2017. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

 March 10 - Presented by Christ

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” - Hebrews 4:14-16  Scripture reading: 1 Peter 2:1-10 How can we as sinners even think about entering the presence of God in corporate worship? Certainly, it is the height of folly to think He would receive us. Yes, if we come on our own. No, if we come through a mediator. Jesus is the mediator of our worship. He is the One Who presents us to the Father in worship as He says, “Behold, I and the children God has given me” (Hebrews 2:13). He is the One Who has passed through the heavens into God’s Most Holy Place (Hebrews 4:14) and through Him we too may enter the presence of the living God. What’s more, we may approach the throne of the Majesty without cowering, indeed, even with confidence. And through the same mediator we offer our worship. We are not so self-confident are we, to think that our songs and prayers and listening are acceptable as they come from us? We are aware of our wanderings, our coldness of heart, and our lethargy. We sometimes honour God with our lips while our heart is far from Him (Mark 7:6). Whatever worship we offer must be purified by the blood of the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world. Through our mediator Jesus Christ, the spiritual sacrifices we offer as the spiritual house and priesthood of God, are acceptable to a holy God. Thankfully, through the Lord Jesus, we may proclaim the excellencies of our Saviour and know that those praises delight Him. Suggestions for prayer Praise God for the one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Ask God to help you to worship Him with joy as those called out of darkness into His marvellous light. Rev. John van Eyk began his ministry in Cambridge, Ontario as a Church Planter and Minister of the Riverside Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. After 13 years there, he served almost 10 years in the Tain/Fearn congregation of the Associated Presbyterian Churches in the Scottish Highlands. John has served as Senior Pastor of Trinity Reformed Church (United Reformed) in Lethbridge, Alberta since 2017. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

March 9 - Christ, the warrior

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” - Genesis 3:15 Scripture reading: 1 John 3:1-10 Ask most Christians why Christ came into the world and their answer will be in terms of the forgiveness of sins. And they’re correct. As John himself says in our passage: ‘You know that he appeared in order to take away sins’ (v. 5). But that’s not all the Bible says about the ministry of the Lord Jesus. In fact, the first gospel promise in Genesis 3:15 is couched, not in the language of forgiveness, but in the language of conquest. The Israelites sang on the shores of the Red Sea, ‘The Lord is a man of war’ (Exodus 15:3). The Lord Jesus came into this world to destroy Satan (Mark 1:24), to drive him out (John 12:31), or, as John says, ‘The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil’ (v. 8). It is no surprise that before Jesus’s public ministry He encountered Satan in the wilderness, nor that the first miracle recorded in Mark’s gospel is the freeing of the man with the unclean spirit. Jesus has come to defeat our enemy, to crush the head of the serpent. How does He do that? Satan’s power over us is our sin, but if the Lord Jesus can deal effectively with sin’s condemning and enslaving power, Satan’s authority is broken. This our Lord did in His death on the cross. He paid the penalty sin deserved and, in so doing, He takes away our sins and destroys the works of the devil. Thanks be to our Champion! Suggestions for prayer Thank God that Jesus Christ has delivered us from the tyranny of the devil. Pray that by the Spirit we would not give in to our defeated enemy’s temptations. Pray for listening ears and receptive hearts as we listen to the voice of our Saviour tomorrow. Rev. John van Eyk began his ministry in Cambridge, Ontario as a Church Planter and Minister of the Riverside Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. After 13 years there, he served almost 10 years in the Tain/Fearn congregation of the Associated Presbyterian Churches in the Scottish Highlands. John has served as Senior Pastor of Trinity Reformed Church (United Reformed) in Lethbridge, Alberta since 2017. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

March 8 - Christ, empowered by the Spirit 

“But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” - Matthew 12:28  Scripture reading: Matthew 12:15-32 How did Jesus carry out His ministry? We can explore this by considering how Jesus did miracles. To perform them, did He dip into His divinity? We might be tempted to say, ‘Of course, after all, He was God.’ But we need to be careful here. After all, other prophets like Moses and Elijah could do miracles too and they certainly weren’t God. Our Bible passage points the way for us. Isaiah prophesied that God would put His Spirit upon His chosen servant, the Lord Jesus. At the commencement of His ministry, at His baptism, this happened. The Spirit of God descended like a dove upon our Lord (Matthew 3:16). Then, led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Jesus was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1). He returned to Galilee ‘in the power of the Spirit’ (Luke 4:14) and in the synagogue, He quotes from Isaiah 61 alerting His hearers that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him (Luke 4:18). Jesus tells His opponents that He has cast out demons, not by Beelzebul, but by the Spirit of God (Matthew 12:28). If He cast out demons by the Spirit of God, we can be sure that He did all His miracles in the Spirit’s power. Jesus was a faithful servant of God; He was obedient as man. It was the Holy Spirit operating upon our Lord’s humanity, Who enabled Him to perform miracles and to carry out His ministry in faithfulness to His Father’s will and for the blessing of His people. Suggestions for prayer Thank God that the same Holy Spirit Who was upon our Lord, is upon all of God’s people, enabling us to serve our heavenly Father. Ask for grace that we would not quench, resist, or grieve the Spirit of God. Rev. John van Eyk began his ministry in Cambridge, Ontario as a Church Planter and Minister of the Riverside Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. After 13 years there, he served almost 10 years in the Tain/Fearn congregation of the Associated Presbyterian Churches in the Scottish Highlands. John has served as Senior Pastor of Trinity Reformed Church (United Reformed) in Lethbridge, Alberta since 2017. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

March 7 - Christ, the God-man

“And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” - Psalm 130:8  Scripture reading: Matthew 1:18-25 The two names given to the child in these verses, Jesus and Immanuel, point us to the unique nature of our Lord. Jesus points to His humanity. He is in the womb of a human mother. He is given a human name, Jesus, the equivalent of the Hebrew name Joshua. And Joseph is given the right to name Jesus. That is a sort of adoption ceremony whereby Jesus is adopted into a human family, particularly, into the lineage of David. He is truly man. But there is more going on here. He is in His mother’s womb, but He is not there in an ordinary way. We are told in verse 25 that Joseph and Mary had no sexual relations before she gave birth to the baby. Gabriel told Mary in Luke 1 that the child would be called the Son of the Most High, and that the coming of the Holy Spirit upon her and the power of the Most High overshadowing her, would ensure that the child born would be the Son of God (Luke 1:32, 35). You also see His divine nature in the names given. Even Jesus, which points to His humanity, highlights His divinity. Joshua, the Old Testament equivalent, means the Lord saves. If Jesus is going to save His people from their sins, He must be the Lord. This is confirmed when we’re told that He would also be called Emmanuel, which means, God, with us (v. 23). Jesus Immanuel, the God-man, fully human, fully divine and our Saviour. Suggestions for prayer Pray that we would grasp the wonder of God becoming man while remaining God. Thank the Lord Jesus for His willingness to become like us. Rev. John van Eyk began his ministry in Cambridge, Ontario as a Church Planter and Minister of the Riverside Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. After 13 years there, he served almost 10 years in the Tain/Fearn congregation of the Associated Presbyterian Churches in the Scottish Highlands. John has served as Senior Pastor of Trinity Reformed Church (United Reformed) in Lethbridge, Alberta since 2017. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

March 6 - The word became flesh (II) 

“Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh,..” - 1 Timothy 3:16  Scripture reading: John 1:14-18 The Word became flesh. What profound truth these words contain. God became Man. The second person of the Trinity took to Himself a human nature while remaining divine. Becoming flesh means that Jesus had a true body. He was born as most babies are and developed as boys and girls do. He was hungry and thirsty. He sweated and grew tired. He bled. He slept. He could only be in one place at a time. And He died. Becoming flesh also means that Jesus took a true soul. He had a human psychology. He had a human mind. He learned as we do, growing in wisdom just as He grew in physical stature. In His humanity our Lord did not know everything. He had human emotions. He experienced joy and sorrow, anger and pleasure. He also had a human will with ordinary desires, longings and preferences. He didn’t desire ridicule and mockery and being forsaken by God. He was truly human, though He was sinless. It is important for us to grapple with these truths so that the incarnation might leave us astonished. He Who was eternal stepped into time. The all-knowing embraced ignorance. The everywhere present was confined first, to a human womb, and then, to specific places. The immortal became mortal. And He experienced these limitations while remaining eternal, all-knowing, everywhere present, and immortal. No wonder Charles Wesley has us sing: ‘Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, hail th’incarnate Deity, pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.’ Suggestions for prayer Praise God that, in His wisdom, He saved us by the man Christ Jesus. Pray that we would be encouraged that our Lord Jesus became like us, sin excepted. Rev. John van Eyk began his ministry in Cambridge, Ontario as a Church Planter and Minister of the Riverside Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. After 13 years there, he served almost 10 years in the Tain/Fearn congregation of the Associated Presbyterian Churches in the Scottish Highlands. John has served as Senior Pastor of Trinity Reformed Church (United Reformed) in Lethbridge, Alberta since 2017. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

March 5 - The word became flesh (1) 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” - John 1:1  Scripture reading: John 1:1-13 We have already noted that Jesus had a pre-existence. He was from ancient days. In our passage today John refers to the Word. It is only in John 1:17 that we learn that this Word is the Lord Jesus. What does John say about Him? John tells us that Jesus is eternal. In the beginning was the Word. Before the beginning of the world and human history the Word was. Jesus existed in eternity past. John tells us that Jesus was with God. Jesus is not another face of the God of the Old Testament, perhaps a kinder and gentler face. John distinguishes between the Father and the Son. Jesus was with the Father while distinct from Him. John tells us that Jesus was God. You have probably encountered Jehovah Witnesses who say that this should be translated as ‘the Word was a god’ because in the Greek there is no article ‘the’ before the word ‘God’. Besides the fact that Greek grammar doesn’t require it, if John had put the article ‘the’ before the word ‘God’ so that it read, ‘and the Word was the God’, you would have other problems. It would exclude the Father and the Spirit from being God. To say that Jesus is a god militates against the biblical truth that there is only one God. John wrote it precisely correctly: Jesus was God. Finally, John tells us that Jesus is the Creator of all things. Nothing was made without Him, not even the eternal Son Himself. Suggestions for prayer Ask the Lord to help you understand the glory of the Lord Jesus, that He is very God of very God, and keep you from errors about our Lord Jesus. Since the Lord Jesus is God, worship Him in prayer. Rev. John van Eyk began his ministry in Cambridge, Ontario as a Church Planter and Minister of the Riverside Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. After 13 years there, he served almost 10 years in the Tain/Fearn congregation of the Associated Presbyterian Churches in the Scottish Highlands. John has served as Senior Pastor of Trinity Reformed Church (United Reformed) in Lethbridge, Alberta since 2017. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

March 4 - Christ and creation 

“all things were created through him and for him.” - Colossians 1:16 Scripture reading: Colossians 1:15-20 It is a wonderful truth that the Lord Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). It is unthinkable to imagine that He had not come. But in our passage today, the Apostle reminds us of another truth, a truth that is before the one mentioned above. That truth is that the world came into existence for Christ. Paul is talking about how the Lord Jesus is the image of the invisible God. This Jesus is the One Who created all things. All things were created through Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16). Jesus is the reason that God called the world into existence. Jesus does not, in the first place, exist for us. We exist for Him. We are not the centre of the universe; He is. God’s great desire is that His Son would be preeminent in everything (Colossians 1:18). Everything has been designed so that the Lord Jesus Christ, the One in Whom all the fullness of God dwells, would be worshipped. Creation is a showcase for the glory of Christ, to display His multifaceted perfections. This has important implications for our lives. Our lives should reflect Christ’s glory. We do that when we trust in Him as our Saviour, showcasing His glory. We do that when we imitate Him, displaying, in our lives, His holiness and character. We do that when we pray for people around us to glorify Christ and seize the opportunities we have to commend Christ to others. Certainly, He is worth everything as the glorious God-man. Suggestions for prayer Ask God to re-orient our thinking so that we understand that we exist for Christ before He exists for us. Thank God that the all-glorious Lord Jesus did come into the world to save us sinners. Rev. John van Eyk began his ministry in Cambridge, Ontario as a Church Planter and Minister of the Riverside Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. After 13 years there, he served almost 10 years in the Tain/Fearn congregation of the Associated Presbyterian Churches in the Scottish Highlands. John has served as Senior Pastor of Trinity Reformed Church (United Reformed) in Lethbridge, Alberta since 2017. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

March 3 - The worship of Christ

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” - Philippians 2:9-11  Scripture reading: John 8:48-59 As we gather as an assembled congregation this Lord’s Day, it is helpful to remember that the worship of the Lord Jesus is at the heart of Christian worship. As a reward for our Lord Jesus’s humiliation, Christ Jesus, the God-man, is appointed to receive the nations’ worship. As Paul says in Philippians 2:9-11, they will bow at His name and confess that He is Lord. This worship of the Lord Jesus is by the Father’s design. He is the One Who seeks Christ’s glory (John 8:50) and Who glorifies Christ (John 8:54). The Spirit as well longs for Christ to be worshipped. He glorifies Christ as He declares to us the things of Christ (John 16:14). If the desire of the Father and the Spirit is the glorification of Christ, certainly His worship should be front and centre in our worship. If we do not honour the Son, we do not honour the Father Who sent Him (John 8:23). This is not to say that the Father is not to be glorified in our worship. He is as well. Lazarus’s death was for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it (John 11:4). The worship of Christ is “to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11). As you assemble for worship, pay particular attention to the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ponder His greatness as the God-man. Meditate on what He has done as the Saviour. And worship Him! Suggestions for prayer Pray that Christ’s Spirit would open our eyes so that we would see Jesus and draw us to Him in trust and adoration as we read His Word and hear it preached. Pray for the success of preaching and mission work so that the Lord Jesus would be worshipped by the nations. Rev. John van Eyk began his ministry in Cambridge, Ontario as a Church Planter and Minister of the Riverside Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. After 13 years there, he served almost 10 years in the Tain/Fearn congregation of the Associated Presbyterian Churches in the Scottish Highlands. John has served as Senior Pastor of Trinity Reformed Church (United Reformed) in Lethbridge, Alberta since 2017. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

March 2 - The eternal plan

“Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.’” - Psalm 40:7  Scripture reading: Hebrews 10:1-10 In Hebrews 10:5-7, we are eavesdropping on a conversation between the Father and the Son. We overhear the eternal Son telling the Father that Old Testament sacrifices were not fit for His ultimate purpose. In terms of taking away sins they were not desired, and God took no pleasure in them. Not that God didn’t want a sacrifice but the sacrifice He wanted was the sacrifice of His Son. That is why the Father prepared a body for Him. Christ was going to be the final and only effective sacrifice for sins. Then the Son tells the Father that He has come to do God’s will, that is, He has come to reconcile sinners to God. The Son knew that meant suffering, rejection and crucifixion for Him. Yet, He was committed to doing His Father’s will. There is one more thing the Son tells the Father. Jesus’s coming has been written in the scroll of the book. Some think that refers to the pages of the Old Testament. It is better thought of as the eternal plan agreed upon in the council amongst the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Christ was appointed to be the unblemished Lamb Who would take away sin. Christ accepted that appointment freely. He came down from heaven, not to do His own will, but the will of Him who sent Him (John 6:38). When He does come into the world, He reminds His Father of that: I am only doing what We agreed I would do for the salvation of sinners. Suggestions for prayer Thank God that He desired the salvation of His own. Thank the Lord Jesus for His willingness to do the Father’s will even when it meant His own sacrificial death. Pray for all of Christ’s servants as they declare the mystery of Christ tomorrow. Rev. John van Eyk began his ministry in Cambridge, Ontario as a Church Planter and Minister of the Riverside Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. After 13 years there, he served almost 10 years in the Tain/Fearn congregation of the Associated Presbyterian Churches in the Scottish Highlands. John has served as Senior Pastor of Trinity Reformed Church (United Reformed) in Lethbridge, Alberta since 2017. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

March 1 - Introduction to the characteristics of Christ

Although we might not know much about Richard of Chichester who was elected Bishop of Chichester in 1244 and died in 1253, we are probably familiar with a prayer written by him. It reads in part: “Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits thou hast given me, for all the pains and insults thou has borne for me. O most merciful redeemer, friend, and brother, may I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly, day by day.” That’s a good prayer and this month’s devotional is written to get us thinking more about our Lord Jesus so that we may increasingly know Him, love Him, and follow Him. From ancient days  “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’” - John 8:58 Scripture reading: Micah 5:1-5a We know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem just over 2000 years ago. But His conception did not mark the beginning of His existence. It marked the beginning of Jesus existing as a perfect man, but that’s not the whole truth of His being, as Micah’s prophecy reminds us. Israel was in trouble because of their incessant sinning against God. God judges Israel through Assyria and Babylon. Micah already sees the siege laid against the city, but God promises deliverance that will come from someone out of Bethlehem. The deliverer is going to be a man, born on earth and of royal birth who will rule Israel. But that’s not all that can be said about this ruler. His coming forth is from Bethlehem and His ‘coming forth is from of old, from ancient days’ (Micah 5:2). That tells us something significant about our Lord Jesus. He is from Bethlehem and from of old, from ancient days. He is from a point in time, and He is from eternity. He had a beginning as a man and He had no beginning as He is divine. John also tells us about the Lord Jesus. ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God’ (John 1:1). Before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Jesus existed as God and with God. He is eternal. As Jesus Himself confessed, ‘Before Abraham was, I am.’ There never was a time when Jesus did not exist. He is eternal and He is God. Suggestions for prayer Thank God that when our trouble was severe, God Himself came to bring deliverance. Ask God to teach us throughout this month by the Holy Spirit so that we might understand our Lord Jesus better and worship Him. Rev. John van Eyk began his ministry in Cambridge, Ontario as a Church Planter and Minister of the Riverside Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. After 13 years there, he served almost 10 years in the Tain/Fearn congregation of the Associated Presbyterian Churches in the Scottish Highlands. John has served as Senior Pastor of Trinity Reformed Church (United Reformed) in Lethbridge, Alberta since 2017. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

 February 29 - God’s grace to us in healing righteousness

“But to you who fear My Name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; And you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves.” - Malachi 4:2  Scripture reading: Malachi 4:1-6 We have traversed the Old Testament and discovered incredible stores of the grace of God for us from Jesus Christ. Indeed, from Genesis to Malachi, the grace of God is the primary theme. His ‘covenant faithfulness and love’ (hesed) is a key ingredient to His covenant. We are very used to calling this, God’s ‘covenant of grace.’ Now, four hundred years before the incarnation and virgin birth, the promise of the Light of the gospel blazes in the darkness (cf., Matthew 4:16, John 1:4). For all who are in awe of God and live in fear of His Name, the healing of righteousness is promised. That healing is what we need the most! The church has received grace sufficient for the needs we have in our day. God provides to each of us more than enough. Our calling is to “search the Scriptures” and see that it is true. Each Old Testament account is full of hints, clues, or outright statements of the gracious act of God on behalf of His sinful covenant people. So, read! Take up the Scriptures and study. Memorize key passages and be so familiar with the longer narratives that you can summarize and explain them to your children and grandchildren. Know the Bible to know the richness of the grace of God for us in Jesus Christ. Read, beloved, and discover His grace! Suggestions for prayer Ask the Lord to show you more of the treasure of His grace for you in Jesus Christ. Rev. Harold Miller graduated from Mid-America Reformed Seminary in 2001 and has served churches in Wellsburg, Iowa and Kansas City, Missouri before arriving at Oak Lawn, Illinois in 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

February 28 - The Spirit of grace to see messianic promises

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me Whom they pierced.” - Zechariah 12:10 Scripture reading: Zechariah 12:1-14 We live in the age of full revelation. The saints in the Old Testament had an incomplete picture. There was a lot that remained unclear to them. Yet as we see here, God the Holy Spirit was at work. Jesus says (Mark 12:36) that David spoke by the Holy Spirit in bringing Psalm 110. We believe the Spirit brought forth all of revelation, including what the Prophets said (2 Peter 1:21). And that means God the Holy Spirit inspired (breathed out) Zechariah’s prophecy, including verse 12, that it would be God the Holy Spirit Who enabled people to “…look on Me Whom they pierced.” Amazing! The Spirit of grace will give the grace necessary to understand truths about the Messiah. This is also true today. When we study the Bible or hear biblical sermons (and through other means) we are led by the Spirit of grace to a knowledge of the truth, especially about the One Who gave Himself for us. We should have great confidence about our ability to come to know more about Jesus Christ, being led by the Spirit of grace. Here in Zechariah, that was exactly the promise. The Spirit would be poured out so that the people would be able to look knowledgeably at the One to be pierced. Grace enables a correct understanding of Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord! Suggestions for prayer Ask the Lord to strengthen your confidence in being able to learn about Jesus Christ, being led by the Holy Spirit. Rev. Harold Miller graduated from Mid-America Reformed Seminary in 2001 and has served churches in Wellsburg, Iowa and Kansas City, Missouri before arriving at Oak Lawn, Illinois in 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

February 27 - God’s grace brings new obedience!

“Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him; and the people feared the presence of the LORD.” - Haggai 1:12 Scripture reading: Haggai 1:1-15 We are deep into the 6th century BC, now. The covenant people are back from the Babylonian captivity. They have received much grace from God and are living the life of freed people again. But they are already forgetting God, particularly in terms of His House. They have their own modern dwellings and all the comforts of home, but the temple of God remains an unfinished building project. God has begun to discipline His selfish children and Haggai preached repentance. The result is a slow return to obedience and a renewed awe of God. The puritan Jeremiah Burroughs wrote a book titled “Gospel Fear”, and we can rightly plead that He would cause us to fear Him! God applied to His covenant people of Haggai’s day three actions: discipline, His prophet’s Words, and an inner “stirring” of His Spirit in the leaders (1:14). These are each acts of the grace of God designed to issue forth in new obedience. And that’s what happened! And in these same ways God constantly tends to His flock. We need discipline – it is grace; we need His Word – it is grace; and we need His Spirit to stir up our leaders, and the rest of us! God is incredibly kind to work in us, bringing us back to obedience. Do you regularly ask God to bring you back to obedience to Him? Suggestions for prayer Pray to the Lord asking that He would bring you back to a joyful obedience of all He has said. Rev. Harold Miller graduated from Mid-America Reformed Seminary in 2001 and has served churches in Wellsburg, Iowa and Kansas City, Missouri before arriving at Oak Lawn, Illinois in 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

February 26 - God’s grace for righteousness in an unrighteousness age

“Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.” - Daniel 6:10  Scripture reading: Daniel 6:1-30 Daniel was a preview of and lived out of the grace from the Lord Jesus Christ. Daniel’s righteousness and ‘rightness’ was his because he “…believed in his God” which is to say – because he was in Jesus Christ. Being an Old Testament servant of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Daniel put all others around him lower than God. God had first place in Daniel’s heart and actions. It should not surprise us to see Daniel praying three times a day after wicked men had gotten an evil law passed, making such praying illegal. There are times when wicked men will force faithful Christians to disobey governments. As often as human rulers demand that we disobey God, we will be found faithfully obeying God, no matter the earthly trouble our obedience brings to us. This sustaining grace of God is powerfully needed in our day, along with a sizeable dose of wisdom. Have rulers demanded that we disobey God? How do we reason from the general principle to the specific instance? This is very important! However, when we are convinced that human laws are requiring that we violate God’s law, we have only one option – stand on God’s Word and accept the consequences of our obedience. “…those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed” (1 Samuel 2:30). Suggestions for prayer Ask the Lord for wisdom and confidence that you rightly obey God rather than ungodly laws. Rev. Harold Miller graduated from Mid-America Reformed Seminary in 2001 and has served churches in Wellsburg, Iowa and Kansas City, Missouri before arriving at Oak Lawn, Illinois in 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

February 24 - The grace of God in purification

“He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.” - 2 Chronicles 34:5  Scripture reading: 2 Chronicles 34:1-7 There is nothing wrong with having two positive and uplifting devotionals in a row! We need the encouragement which God graciously provides us in His Word. But Josiah burned priests’ bones on an altar and that’s supposed to encourage us? Oh Yes!! To understand why this act should encourage us, we need to look back at 1 Kings 13:1,2. After Solomon’s death, the kingdom split into northern and southern kingdoms, Israel and Judah. In the north, Jeroboam decided to make worship convenient and set up altars in Bethel and Dan. These altars were manned by “priests” not from Levi, who allowed for false worship. Once those priests died, their bones were preserved. So Josiah, at age 20, began to purge idolatry from the lives of God’s covenant people. That purification by purging included burning the bones of those false priests who conducted unlawful worship beginning in the days of Jeroboam. God employed the grace of scorching heat to cleanse His people! How has God worked to cleanse you of your sins? We rejoice to the highest heavens that He sent His Son to cleanse us of all our sins, making the impure (us) pure in Him! God still uses fire to cleanse us. This is why Paul tells us – 1 Thessalonians 5:19 – “Do not quench the Spirit.” Don’t put out His purifying fire by sins.  So, by grace, God still purifies us. Praise the Lord! Suggestions for prayer Thank God for the purifying fires of His grace. Rev. Harold Miller graduated from Mid-America Reformed Seminary in 2001 and has served churches in Wellsburg, Iowa and Kansas City, Missouri before arriving at Oak Lawn, Illinois in 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

February 25 - The grace of God’s reviving work

“O LORD, I have heard Your speech and was afraid; O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.” - Habakkuk 3:2  Scripture reading: Habakkuk 3:1-19 This is the day we enter into the house of the Lord for corporate worship. Is there grace for God’s people on the Lord’s day? Of course! But is that still true in our day, in our circumstances? Yes. As Habakkuk writes by the Spirit’s inspiration, “In the midst of the years, make it known.” He is saying, ‘In our day too, revive Your work.’ That act of God to revive His work is our need today, and He will do it. Habakkuk is writing at the end of the 7th century, as Jehoiakim is ‘king’ and Judah, the nation, is about dead. The refusal of the people to repent of their sins is bringing God’s cleansing by the Babylonians. The times will get very tough, but the faithful will still trust the LORD (Habakkuk 3:17-19). And what times do we live in? Do we need God’s work revived? Is preaching having its proper effect? Are Christians repenting of their sins and delighting in God’s law? What expectations do you have as you come to the house of the Lord to attend corporate worship – what work will God do in your heart and life? Ask that question more personally, do you need God to graciously revive His work in your life? We come to corporate worship hungry and with the anticipation of being fed. By His grace in Christ, our God will not disappoint! Suggestions for prayer Ask God to revive His work in you today through corporate worship. Rev. Harold Miller graduated from Mid-America Reformed Seminary in 2001 and has served churches in Wellsburg, Iowa and Kansas City, Missouri before arriving at Oak Lawn, Illinois in 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

February 23 - God’s grace of a righteous ruler

“He trusted in the LORD God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him.” - 2 Kings 18:5  Scripture reading: 2 Kings 18:1-8 When we look at the local, national and international political scene, things can look grim. As I am writing this devotional (on October 27, 2023) Israel and her enemies are ramping up to what seems like another bloody war. We long for righteousness to be seen in our communities and around the world. We know that complete righteousness only comes in glory, but it is right to look for the best situation we can in the fallen world. That’s what it seemed like in Judah during the reign of king Hezekiah. Why? He trusted the LORD and obeyed Him. “Trust and obey for there’s no other way…” And in our text we see many proofs that Hezekiah put the LORD and His Word first. Hezekiah steadfastly obeyed God’s commandments, ripped out all the vestiges of idolatry, and even destroyed that once useful bronze serpent of Moses’s day – which had become a relic to be worshiped. We would rejoice today to have a president like King Hezekiah who would put the LORD and His Word front and centre in steadfast obedience. We must demand our elders and pastors emulate the worldview of Hezekiah in all that happens in our churches. We are especially thankful for our King, Jesus Christ, Who was the perfect law-keeper and our righteous King! Rejoice today that we have the promise of everlasting righteousness in that world to come. Suggestions for prayer Give thanks to God for kings like Hezekiah, preview of the Perfect King Jesus! Rev. Harold Miller graduated from Mid-America Reformed Seminary in 2001 and has served churches in Wellsburg, Iowa and Kansas City, Missouri before arriving at Oak Lawn, Illinois in 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85