Customer Reviews

Morning and Evening: Daily Readings

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Charles Spurgeon is one of those brilliant Christian writers who I've just discovered as a new convert, but others have treasured for years. After my pastor quoted him for the third time in a homily, I decided I needed to learn more. And then I received this wonderful devotional for Christmas--perfect timing!

This is an version of Spurgeon's classic daily devotional, which has been updated using the New Internation Version of the Bible as a source for the scripture verses. Spurgeon's writing has also been revised somewhat to tranlate some of the archaic expressions into phrasing that will make sense to modern readers.
The text still retains a turn-of-the-century feel, but the words are no longer a barrier to understanding.

There are meditations for each morning and evening. They are full of wisdom and comfort, and I am amazed at how much richness Spurgeon is able to draw from even the shortest bits of text, "mighty to save", "He humbled Himself", etc. This gives readers a renewed appreciation for the value of each and every word in Scripture.

Helpful indexes make the book useful as a reference when readers need help or inspiration on a particular topic. This is a book that will be used long after the original devotions have been enjoyed on a daily basis.

At last, a delightful modern treatise on Spurgy's wonderful devotions. No excuses anymore, the King's English has been modernized so that us contemporary, modern Christians can understand and apply the deep truths of the faith. This devotional, if used prayerfully, will change your life and deepen your well of faith.

This is a penetrating compilation of meditations written by "The Prince of Preachers," Charles Haddon Spurgeon. The man many knew as the most widely popular of English preachers in the nineteenth century, was born in Essex, England in 1834. Spurgeon, who became a Baptist preacher at the age of 20, was such an impressive preacher that his chapel was unable to accommodate all those who wanted to hear him.

Spurgeon is a man of both keen intellect and profound conviction of a sort that was most rare for his time, and I believe is all but non-existent today.

Spurgeon's life heeded the Berean call to search the Scriptures daily and to evaluate everything we read and hear by that standard! He loved others enough to tell them the truth without compromise!

But the most important ingredient to Spurgeon's success was his deep, yet very simple trust in and understanding of his Lord and Saviour and of His great grace and love. Out of this came a great longing to have others come to know, to love and to worship the Lord Jesus as he did. This will become readily apparent as one drinks in Spurgeon's commentary and meditates on his Biblical message.

This book is broken into facing pages for the same date such as: This Morning's Meditation, and This Evening's Meditation.

This book will absolutely bless your Biblical socks off!

This work is broken it to two parts, the author's reflection on scriptural text to be read in the morning, and a reflection on another verse for the evening. The morning and evening reflections are vivid, powerful, and inspiring. The masterful old English prose flows well; the snippets of scripture insightfully expounded upon. The bits of scripture addressed are small, perhaps a single verse or two, and yet are weighty enough to linger in your mind throughout the day. I had never really adhered to a daily devotional type of Bible study until I found this work. Now I am committed to completing both portions by the end of the day. Definitely worth the time and will make your day much richer.

Now, with regard to the kindle formatting, I had but one issue. That is that the TOC does not link to individual months, but only to the individual (AM/PM) readings within the months. So, let's say you want to jump to a November reading, you'd have to page through all the linked readings of prior months before you could get to the one desired. I have seen another kindle version that links the months, and then also links the individual readings for every month as well. Had I not purchased this version first, I would have bought that one instead. It is not a big enough issue for me to return this version, but I thought I would give a warning to those would be buyers. In either case, this work is well worth the money.

I just downloaded this book to my Kindle; my husband downloaded this book to his Nook. The formatting on the Kindle is sub-par, there are no chapters; cannot navigate except page to page. The Nook edition is the same price but is formatted so much better with chapters for each day and with no extra spaces in the middle of words. Although I should not rate the book without reading it, I'm sure the content will be good; however, a heads-up for those who are particular with formatting (and I'm not!).

Though Spurgeon's thoughts are great, this Kindle version is not. Many pages are incomplete. Always try a sample before you buy.

Charles Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening (a devotional classic based on the King James Version)" is classic devotion and now is in paperback and very affordable which makes his potent words even more accessible. A pastor's heart is expressed as he directs the reader to the joy found in Jesus. Readings are for each morning and each evening.

In this contemporary edition one finds:
- the same splendid prose (from the traditional text) of the prince of preachers
- a daily spiritual tool to get fired-up in the AM for the Lord
- powerful life changing truth that yields peace and comfort at night
- the KJV English flows throughout.

One example from a morning:
"Prayers are instantly noticed in heaven. The moment Saul began to pray the Lord heard him. Here is comfort for the distressed but praying soul. Oftentimes a poor broken-hearted one bends his knee, but can only utter his wailing in the language of sighs and tears; yet that groan has made all the harps of heaven thrill with music; that tear has been caught by God and treasured in the lachrymatory of heaven. "Thou puttest my tears into thy bottle," implies that they are caught as they flow. The suppliant, whose fears prevent his words, will be well understood by the Most High. He may only look up with misty eye; but "prayer is the falling of a tear." Tears are the diamonds of heaven; sighs are a part of the music of Jehovah's court, and are numbered with "the sublimest strains that reach the majesty on high." Think not that your prayer, however weak or trembling, will be unregarded. Jacob's ladder is lofty, but our prayers shall lean upon the Angel of the covenant and so climb its starry rounds."

"Our God not only hears prayer but also loves to hear it. "He forgetteth not the cry of the humble." True, He regards not high looks and lofty words; He cares not for the pomp and pageantry of kings; He listens not to the swell of martial music; He regards not the triumph and pride of man; but wherever there is a heart big with sorrow, or a lip quivering with agony, or a deep groan, or a penitential sigh, the heart of Jehovah is open; He marks it down in the registry of His memory; He puts our prayers, like rose leaves, between the pages of His book of remembrance, and when the volume is opened at last, there shall be a precious fragrance springing up therefrom."

"Behold, he prayeth" Acts 9:11.

In C.H. Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening" one find 732 readings that will touch you, move you, draw you closer to God through mighty words that will teach you the essentials of the faith.
If you are interested in the Ten Commandments or apologetics see:
There Are Moral Absolutes: How to Be Absolutely Sure That Christianity Alone Supplies
"God Does Exist!: Defending the Faith using Presuppositional Apologetics, Evidence, and the Impossibility of the Contrary" ASIN:1420827626

I'm assuming based on the cover that the publisher is the same with the poor formatting of Spurgeon's 5 book Christian Classic. I previewed this after seeing the negative reviews and now understand where they were coming from, especially when this is available in many other versions with actual links to each day.

buyer beware

I have this book in both print and digital formats and have enjoyed it immensely. It's a great resource for anyone looking for a good start to their morning and evening devotionals. And I'm inspired by his story and ministry, especially how he didn't give up in the face of criticism for his plain speech.

I, personally, do not dislike the digital version. There are minor errors in formatting, but they didn't distract me from the intent of the text. And, honestly, for $0.89, I don't think there's much room for complaints on these minor points. I also love being able to click on the "Morning and Evening" title and go directly to where I left off. It's even easier than the print version, and since I read so much anyway, there's no chance that I accidentally left my copy in my car or at the office. If nothing else, I could access it on my phone or computer if all else fails.

This is an amazing buy for under a dollar.

This is an excellent book, nicely layed out in a morning page and an evening page, side by side, for comfortable reading. Much can be gained for the spiritual life from Charles Spurgeon. So glad to have this in my library of books to keep.