Wed, 17 Jun 2026 04:59:07 -0700WeeblyTue, 16 Jun 2026 19:18:25 GMThttps://www.emmanuel-florence.org/devotional/life-in-the-spirit-is-a-life-of-holy-obligation-ruthless-mortification-and-sure-consolation-in-christthe-solemn-warning-vv-8-13Paul draws a sharp line: those in the flesh “cannot please God.” This is not a bad day for a Christian, but it is a settled condition of the unregenerate whose mind is enmity against God.

He then presses it home: “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die.” That death is not mere bodily death, but the fearful end of a life that has never been brought under the reign of the Spirit of Christ.
The gracious reality (vv. 9–11)
Yet Paul immediately turns to the believer and says, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.” To belong to Christ is to be indwelt by the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, the very Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead.
This means two things at once: the body is still subject to death because of sin, yet the Spirit is life because of righteousness, and even these mortal bodies shall be quickened by that indwelling Spirit. The believer walks every Monday under the power of resurrection, even while feeling the frailty of the ​flesh.

The holy obligation (v. 12)
“So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.” The flesh has never done anything but enslave, accuse, and destroy; we owe it nothing but its execution.
Our only rightful debt is to grace—to walk in a way befitting those adopted as sons and daughters, indwelt by the Spirit, headed for glory. The Christian life is not a casual hobby but a covenant bond that lays a loving, moral obligation on the soul.
The daily warfare (v. 13)
“But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Mortification is not an optional advanced course in sanctification; it is the ordinary path of life for every true believer.
Notice the order: it is “through the Spirit” that we put to death the deeds of the body; we do not conquer sin in the power of the flesh, but by the power of the indwelling Spirit applying Christ’s finished work to our hearts. As those misdeeds are starved and slain, we taste more of real spiritual life even now.
A Monday muse to carry
As you step into this Monday, you do not walk as a debtor to your old nature, but as a redeemed debtor to grace, indwelt by the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. Your calling today is simple and serious: refuse every claim of the flesh, and in conscious dependence on the Spirit, take sides with God against your own sin—and in that very warfare, you will find life.]]>Fri, 22 May 2026 11:45:55 GMThttps://www.emmanuel-florence.org/devotional/c-h-spurgeonsmorning-readingmay-22nd"He led them forth by the right way." — Psalm 107:7

A changeable experience often leads the anxious believer to enquire, "Why is it thus with me?" I looked for light, but lo, darkness came; for peace, but behold trouble. I said in my heart, my mountain standeth firm, I shall never be moved. Lord, thou dost hide Thy face, and I am troubled. It was but yesterday that I could read my title clearly; today, my evidence is bedimmed, and my hopes are clouded. Yesterday I could climb to Pisgah's top, and view the landscape o'er, and rejoice with confidence in my future inheritance; today, my spirit has no hopes, but many fears; no joys, but much distress. Is this part of God's plan with me? Can this be the way in which God would bring me to heaven? Yes, it is even so. The eclipse of your faith, the darkness of your mind, the fainting of your hope, all these things are but parts of God's method of making you ripe for the great inheritance upon which you shall soon enter. These trials are for the testing and strengthening of your faith-they are waves that wash you further upon the rock-they are winds which waft your ship the more swiftly towards the desired haven. According to David's words, so it might be said of you, "so He bringeth them to their desired haven." By honor and dishonor, by evil report and by good report, by plenty and by poverty, by joy and by distress, by persecution and by peace, by all these things is the life of your souls maintained, and by each of these are you helped on your way. Oh, think not, believer, that your sorrows are out of God's plan; they are necessary parts of it. "We must, through much tribulation, enter the kingdom." Learn, then, even to "count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations."
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"O let my trembling soul be still,
And wait Thy wise, Thy holy will!
I cannot, Lord, Thy purpose see,
Yet all is well since ruled by Thee."

]]>Thu, 21 May 2026 11:41:37 GMThttps://www.emmanuel-florence.org/devotional/c-h-spurgeonsmorning-readingmay-21st"If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious." — 1 Peter 2:3
If-then, this is not a matter to be taken for granted concerning every member of the human race. "If:"-then there is a possibility and a probability that some may not have tasted that the Lord is gracious. "If:"-then this is not a general but a special mercy; and it is needful to enquire whether we know the grace of God by inward experience. There is no spiritual favor that may not be a matter for heart-searching.
But while this should be a matter of earnest and prayerful inquiry, no one ought to be content whilst there is any such thing as an "if" about his having tasted that the Lord is gracious. A jealous and holy distrust of self may give rise to the question even in the believer's heart, but the continuance of such a doubt would be an evil indeed. We must not rest without a desperate struggle to clasp the Savior in the arms of faith, and say, "I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he can keep that which I have committed unto him." Do not rest, O believer, till thou hast a full assurance of thine interest in Jesus. Let nothing satisfy thee till, by the infallible witness of the Holy Spirit bearing witness with thy spirit, thou art certified that thou art a child of God. Oh, trifle not here; let no "perhaps" and "peradventure" and "if" and "maybe" satisfy thy soul. Build on eternal verities, and verily build upon them. Get the sure mercies of David, and surely get them. Let thine anchor be cast into that which is within the veil, and see to it that thy soul be linked to the anchor by a cable that will not break. Advance beyond these dreary "ifs"; abide no more in the wilderness of doubts and fears; cross the Jordan of distrust, and enter the Canaan of peace, where the Canaanite still lingers, but where the land ceaseth not to flow with milk and honey.

]]>Wed, 20 May 2026 11:46:46 GMThttps://www.emmanuel-florence.org/devotional/marvellous-lovingkindness-psalm-177When we give our hearts with our alms, we give well, but we must often plead to a failure in this respect. Not so our Master and our Lord. His favors are always performed with the love of His heart. He does not send us the cold meat and the broken pieces from the table of His luxury, but He dips our morsel in His own dish, and seasons our provisions with the spices of His fragrant affections. When He puts the golden tokens of His grace into our palms, He accompanies the gift with such a warm pressure of our hand that the manner of His giving is as precious as the boon itself. He will come into our houses upon His errands of kindness, and He will not act as some austere visitors do in the poor man's cottage, but He sits by our side, not despising our poverty, nor blaming our weakness. Beloved, with what smiles does He speak! What golden sentences drop from His gracious lips! What embraces of affection does He bestow upon us! If He had but given us farthings, the way of His giving would have gilded them; but as it is, the costly alms are set in a golden basket by His pleasant carriage. It is impossible to doubt the sincerity of His charity, for there is a bleeding heart stamped upon the face of all His benefactions. He giveth liberally and upbraideth not. Not one hint that we are burdensome to Him; not one cold look for His poor pensioners; but He rejoices in His mercy, and presses us to His bosom while He is pouring out His life for us. There is a fragrance in His spikenard which nothing but His heart could produce; there is a sweetness in His honey-comb which could not be in it unless the very essence of His soul's affection had been mingled with it. Oh! The rare communion which such singular heartiness effecteth! May we continually taste and know the blessedness of it!]]>Tue, 19 May 2026 11:19:36 GMThttps://www.emmanuel-florence.org/devotional/i-have-seen-servants-upon-horses-and-princes-walking-as-servants-upon-the-earth-ecclesiastes-107Upstarts frequently usurp the highest places, while the truly great pine in obscurity. This is a riddle in providence whose solution will one day gladden the hearts of the upright; but it is so common a fact, that none of us should murmur if it should fall to our own lot. When our Lord was upon earth, although He is the Prince of the kings of the earth, yet He walked the footpath of weariness and service as the Servant of servants: what wonder is it if His followers, who are princes of the blood, should also be looked down upon as inferior and contemptible persons? The world is upside down, and therefore, the first are last and the last first. See how the servile sons of Satan lord it in the earth! What a high horse they ride! How they lift up their horn on high! Haman is in the court, while Mordecai sits in the gate; David wanders on the mountains, while Saul reigns in state; Elijah is complaining in the cave while Jezebel is boasting in the palace; yet who would wish to take the places of the proud rebels? and who, on the other hand, might not envy the despised saints? When the wheel turns, those who are lowest rise, and the highest sink. Patience, then, believer, eternity will right the wrongs of time.
Let us not fall into the error of letting our passions and carnal appetites ride in triumph, while our nobler powers walk in the dust. Grace must reign as a prince, and make the members of the body instruments of righteousness. The Holy Spirit loves order, and He therefore sets our powers and faculties in due rank and place, giving the highest room to those spiritual faculties which link us with the great King; let us not disturb the divine arrangement, but ask for grace that we may keep under our body and bring it into subjection. We were not new created to allow our passions to rule over us, but that we, as kings, may reign in Christ Jesus over the triple kingdom of spirit, soul, and body, to the glory of God the Father.

​]]>Mon, 18 May 2026 19:47:24 GMThttps://www.emmanuel-florence.org/devotional/monday-muse-still-at-the-jordanjoshua-31-3“And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came unto Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host; And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.” — Joshua 3:1–3 (KJV)
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Three days. For three long days, Israel camped on the banks of a flooded Jordan — close enough to hear the rush of the waters, near enough to see Canaan, yet unable to move one step closer on their own. God gave them the problem before He gave them the provision. He let the impossibility pound into them so that when the miracle came, there would be no question who had done it.

Consider the mercy in the waiting. God had been preparing this moment for 500 years — since the promise to Abraham in Genesis 15. What were three more days? Yet to weary pilgrims on the edge of the promise, three days can feel like a lifetime. Every morning, they woke to the same roaring river. Every night, the same doubts circled the campfires. And still, the command was simply — wait, watch for the ark, and follow.
Here is the soul-lesson, dear friend: God often positions His people at the Jordan before He parts it. He plants us at the edge of the impossible, not to discourage us, but to discipline our trust. Patience is not passive resignation — it is active, watchful, ark-following faith. Israel was not told to solve the problem. They were told to keep their eyes on the presence of God. When the ark moved, they moved. Not before.
Where is your Jordan this Monday morning? What swollen river stands between you and the promise? Do not despise the three days of waiting. God is not slow — He is sovereign. He is not absent — He is arranging. Fix your eyes on the Ark of His covenant mercy, for He who opened the Jordan will open your way in His own perfect time.
“Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him.” — Psalm 37:7 (KJV)]]>Fri, 15 May 2026 11:36:49 GMThttps://www.emmanuel-florence.org/devotional/c-h-spurgeonsmorning-readingmay-15thall-that-believe-are-justified-acts-1339The believer in Christ receives a present justification. Faith does not produce this fruit by-and-by, but now. So far as justification is the result of faith, it is given to the soul in the moment when it closes with Christ, and accepts Him as its all in all. Are they who stand before the throne of God justified now?—so are we, as truly and as clearly justified as they who walk in white and sing melodious praises to celestial harps. The thief upon the cross was justified the moment that he turned the eye of faith to Jesus; and Paul, the aged, after years of service, was not more justified than was the thief with no service at all. We are today accepted in the Beloved, today absolved from sin, today acquitted at the bar of God. Oh! soul-transporting thought! There are some clusters of Eshcol's vine which we shall not be able to gather till we enter heaven; but this is a bough which runneth over the wall. This is not as the corn of the land, which we can never eat till we cross the Jordan; but this is part of the manna in the wilderness, a portion of our daily nutriment with which God supplies us in our journeying to and fro. We are now—even now pardoned; even now are our sins put away; even now we stand in the sight of God accepted, as though we had never been guilty. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." There is no sin in the Book of God, even now, against one of His people. Who dares to lay anything to their charge? There is neither speck, nor spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing remaining upon any one believer in the matter of justification in the sight of the Judge of all the earth. Let present privilege awaken us to present duty, and now, while life lasts, let us spend and be spent for our sweet Lord Jesus.]]>Thu, 14 May 2026 11:31:39 GMThttps://www.emmanuel-florence.org/devotional/joint-heirs-with-christ-romans-817​The boundless realms of His Father's universe are Christ's by prescriptive right. As "heir of all things," He is the sole proprietor of the vast creation of God, and He has admitted us to claim the whole as ours, by virtue of that deed of joint-heirship which the Lord hath ratified with His chosen people. The golden streets of paradise, the pearly gates, the river of life, the transcendent bliss, and the unutterable glory, are, by our blessed Lord, made over to us for our everlasting possession. All that He has He shares with His people. The crown royal He has placed upon the head of His Church, appointing her a kingdom, and calling her sons a royal priesthood, a generation of priests and kings. He uncrowned Himself that we might have a coronation of glory; He would not sit upon His own throne until He had procured a place upon it for all who overcome by His blood. Crown the head and the whole body shares the honour. Behold here the reward of every Christian conqueror! Christ's throne, crown, sceptre, palace, treasure, robes, heritage, are yours. Far superior to the jealousy, selfishness, and greed, which admit of no participation of their advantages, Christ deems His happiness completed by His people sharing it. "The glory which thou gavest me have I given them." "These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." The smiles of His Father are all the sweeter to Him, because His people share them. The honours of His kingdom are more pleasing, because His people appear with Him in glory. More valuable to Him are His conquests, since they have taught His people to overcome. He delights in His throne, because on it there is a place for them. He rejoices in His royal robes, since over them His skirts are spread. He delights the more in His joy, because He calls them to enter into it.]]>Wed, 13 May 2026 11:44:00 GMThttps://www.emmanuel-florence.org/devotional/c-h-spurgeonsmorning-readingmay-13thChristian! If thou art in a night of trial, think of the morrow; cheer up thy heart with the thought of the coming of thy Lord. Be patient, for

"Lo! He comes with clouds descending."

Be patient! The Husbandman waits until He reaps His harvest. Be patient; for you know who has said, "Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be." If you are never so wretched now, remember

"A few more rolling suns, at most,
Will land thee on fair Canaan's coast."

Thy head may be crowned with thorny troubles now, but it shall wear a starry crown ere long; thy hand may be filled with cares, it shall sweep the strings of the harp of heaven soon. Thy garments may be soiled with dust now; they shall be white by-and-by. Could you wait a little longer? Ah! How despicable our troubles and trials will seem when we look back upon them! Looking at them here in the prospect, they seem immense, but when we get to heaven, we shall then

"With transporting joys recount,
The labors of our feet."
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Our trials will then seem light and momentary afflictions. Let us go on boldly; if the night be never so dark, the morning cometh, which is more than they can say who are shut up in the darkness of hell. Do you know what it is to live on the future, to live on expectation, to antedate heaven? Happy believer, to have so sure, so comforting a hope. It may be all dark now, but it will soon be light; it may be all trial now, but it will soon be all happiness. What matters it, though "weeping may endure for a night," when "joy cometh in the morning?"

]]>Mon, 11 May 2026 11:31:38 GMThttps://www.emmanuel-florence.org/devotional/monday-muse-he-shall-lose-nothing“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” — John 6:37 (KJV)

What a morning to begin the week beneath the canopy of sovereign grace! John 6 is one of the most glorious chapters in all of Holy Scripture, and it thunders with the majesty of God’s electing love.
Notice the iron certainty of Christ’s words: “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.” Not may come. Not might come. Shall come. John Gill, that faithful expositor of sovereign grace, rightly observed that “the whole body of the elect are here meant, who, when they were chosen by God the Father, were given and put into the hands of Christ” — and that this act is unchangeable. There is no slipping through the fingers of divine purpose.

Then come those soul-steadying words of verse 44: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.”  Here, our Lord strips away every ground of human boasting. We did not find Christ; the Father drew us to Him. Salvation from first to last is the sovereign work of God.

And what is the Father’s will in all of this? Verse 39 answers plainly: “of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”  Dear saints, your perseverance is guaranteed not by the strength of your grip, but by the faithfulness of His.

Begin this week resting in that promise. You are given to Christ. You are drawn by the Father. You are kept to the last day. Go forward in confidence, not in yourself, but in the sovereign God who saves to the uttermost.
Soli Deo Gloria
— Pastor Michael]]>