Daily devotions offer us inspiration, encouragement, instruction, motivation. Just a few minutes each day with a Bible verse and an uplifting thought can set the tone for the whole day to come. While many sources of daily devotions are sprinkled around the internet and available in local bookstores, these classic devotionals are still inspiring Christians today.

My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers

From Oswald Chambers’ online bio:

“Oswald Chambers sometimes startled audiences with his vigorous thinking and his vivid expression. Even those who disagreed with what he said found his teachings difficult to dismiss and all but impossible to ignore. Often his humor drove home a sensitive point: ‘Have we ever got into the way of letting God work, or are we so amazingly important that we really wonder in our nerves and ways what the Almighty does before we are up in the morning!’’

[read the full bio here]

 

Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman

About the author:

“Streams in the Desert is mostly a pastiche of Lettie Cowman’s favorite passages from her own wide devotional reading, assembled on the grid of 365 daily doses. A standard page of Streams includes a Scripture passage, a quotation from a nineteenth-century Christian author, and a poem. Usually she cites her sources, but sometimes she just notes them as ‘selected.’

… The secret of her editorial success is probably that she wasn’t trying to succeed. Cowman really did produce the book for her own benefit. She wasn’t trying to reach a large audience; she was going through a difficult phase of life, and learning how to commune with God through the suffering.”

[read more here]

 

Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Charles Haddon Spurgeon was an English preacher born in 1834. He began preaching at the age of 19 and soon was preaching to thousands. His sermons were published each week and were eventually read by millions more.

From the Pilgrim Publications website containing all things Spurgeon:

“In an age of promotional hype and sales gimmicks, it is refreshing to occasionally discover something which has endured the “test of time” and needs no “polish” for its commendation. Few would question that this is the character of the works of the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892). Spurgeon’s works were eagerly devoured during his own time and their circulation has not diminished in our own century.”

 

Your turn

Do you have a favorite classic devotion or author you’d like to share?