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Days of Heaven Upon Earth: A Year Book of Scripture Texts and Living Truth
In this acclaimed classic, Albert Benjamin Simpson expresses a Bible-inspired thought and prayer for every single day of the year.
A master theologian and lifelong preacher, A. B. Simpson's knowledge of the Bible was accumulated over decades of study and contemplation. Beginning his career as a young pastor in Kentucky, Simpson demonstrated a keen and literate capacity for the Christian doctrine and ancient lore from an early age. He would mature to become a well-respected author and preacher, traversing several states to deliver talks on the Gospels, the life of Christ, and other spiritual topics.
Days of Heaven Upon Earth is organized into daily reflections, each of which comprise a few paragraphs. All begin with a quotation of scripture, which serves to set the tone and context of Simpson's thoughts. Days coinciding with important Christian events such as Christmas, Lent and Easter are themed accordingly, giving the reader something be mindful about as each day passes.
This classic book is perfect for regular daily reference. Christians seeking to deepen their faith and affinity with God might set a New Years Resolution to consult this book upon waking each morning, or simply begin from the day they receive the book. Regardless of how this superb book is digested, A. B. Simpson's devotional encouragement has and will continue to help and counsel Christians for generations.
A master theologian and lifelong preacher, A. B. Simpson's knowledge of the Bible was accumulated over decades of study and contemplation. Beginning his career as a young pastor in Kentucky, Simpson demonstrated a keen and literate capacity for the Christian doctrine and ancient lore from an early age. He would mature to become a well-respected author and preacher, traversing several states to deliver talks on the Gospels, the life of Christ, and other spiritual topics.
Days of Heaven Upon Earth is organized into daily reflections, each of which comprise a few paragraphs. All begin with a quotation of scripture, which serves to set the tone and context of Simpson's thoughts. Days coinciding with important Christian events such as Christmas, Lent and Easter are themed accordingly, giving the reader something be mindful about as each day passes.
This classic book is perfect for regular daily reference. Christians seeking to deepen their faith and affinity with God might set a New Years Resolution to consult this book upon waking each morning, or simply begin from the day they receive the book. Regardless of how this superb book is digested, A. B. Simpson's devotional encouragement has and will continue to help and counsel Christians for generations.
- GenresChristianDevotional
188 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1983
128 people are currently reading
158 people want to read
About the author
A.B. Simpson
315 books40 followersAlbert Benjamin "A.B." Simpson (December 15, 1843 – October 29, 1919) was a Canadian preacher, theologian, author, and founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), an evangelical Protestant denomination with an emphasis on global evangelism.
Simpson was born in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada as the third son and fourth child of James Simpson, Jr. and Janet Clark. Author Harold H. Simpson has gathered an extensive genealogy of Cavendish families in Cavendish: Its History, Its People. His research establishes the Clark family (A.B. Simpson's mother’s side) as one of the founding families of Cavendish in 1790, along with the Simpson family, and he traces common ancestors between Albert B. Simpson and Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables.
The young Albert was raised in a strict Calvinistic Scottish Presbyterian and Puritan tradition. His conversion of faith began under the ministry of Henry Grattan Guinness, a visiting evangelist from Ireland during the revival of 1859. Simpson spent some time in the Chatham, Ontario area, and received his theological training in Toronto at Knox College, University of Toronto. After graduating in 1865, Simpson was subsequently ordained in the Canada Presbyterian Church, the largest of the Presbyterian groups in Canada that merged after his departure for the United States. At age 21, he accepted a call to the large Knox Presbyterian Church (closed in 1971) in nearby Hamilton, Ontario.
In December 1873, at age 30, Simpson left Canada and assumed the pulpit of the largest Presbyterian church in Louisville, Kentucky, the Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church. It was in Louisville that he first conceived of preaching the gospel to the common man by building a simple tabernacle structure for that purpose. Despite his success at the Chestnut Street Church, Simpson was frustrated by their reluctance to embrace this burden for wider evangelistic endeavor.
In 1880, Simpson was called to the Thirteenth Street Presbyterian Church in New York City where he immediately began reaching out to the world with the gospel. Beside active evangelistic work in the church, he published a missionary journal, The Gospel in All Lands, the first missionary journal with pictures. Simpson also founded and began publishing an illustrated magazine entitled The Word, Work, and World. By 1911, this magazine became known as The Alliance Weekly, then Alliance Life, and is now called a.life. It is the official publication of The Christian and Missionary Alliance, in the USA and Canada.
By 1881, after only two fruitful years at Thirteenth Presbyterian, he resigned in order to begin an independent gospel ministry to the many new immigrants and the neglected masses of New York City. Simpson began informal training classes in 1882 in order to reach "the neglected peoples of the world with the neglected resources of the church". By 1883, a formal program was in place and ministers and missionaries were being trained in a multi-cultural context (This school was the beginning of Nyack College and Alliance Theological Seminary). In 1889, Simpson and his church family moved into their new home at the corner of 44th St. and 8th Av. called the New York Tabernacle. This became the base not only of his ministry of evangelism in the city but also of his growing work of worldwide missions.
Simpson was born in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada as the third son and fourth child of James Simpson, Jr. and Janet Clark. Author Harold H. Simpson has gathered an extensive genealogy of Cavendish families in Cavendish: Its History, Its People. His research establishes the Clark family (A.B. Simpson's mother’s side) as one of the founding families of Cavendish in 1790, along with the Simpson family, and he traces common ancestors between Albert B. Simpson and Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables.
The young Albert was raised in a strict Calvinistic Scottish Presbyterian and Puritan tradition. His conversion of faith began under the ministry of Henry Grattan Guinness, a visiting evangelist from Ireland during the revival of 1859. Simpson spent some time in the Chatham, Ontario area, and received his theological training in Toronto at Knox College, University of Toronto. After graduating in 1865, Simpson was subsequently ordained in the Canada Presbyterian Church, the largest of the Presbyterian groups in Canada that merged after his departure for the United States. At age 21, he accepted a call to the large Knox Presbyterian Church (closed in 1971) in nearby Hamilton, Ontario.
In December 1873, at age 30, Simpson left Canada and assumed the pulpit of the largest Presbyterian church in Louisville, Kentucky, the Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church. It was in Louisville that he first conceived of preaching the gospel to the common man by building a simple tabernacle structure for that purpose. Despite his success at the Chestnut Street Church, Simpson was frustrated by their reluctance to embrace this burden for wider evangelistic endeavor.
In 1880, Simpson was called to the Thirteenth Street Presbyterian Church in New York City where he immediately began reaching out to the world with the gospel. Beside active evangelistic work in the church, he published a missionary journal, The Gospel in All Lands, the first missionary journal with pictures. Simpson also founded and began publishing an illustrated magazine entitled The Word, Work, and World. By 1911, this magazine became known as The Alliance Weekly, then Alliance Life, and is now called a.life. It is the official publication of The Christian and Missionary Alliance, in the USA and Canada.
By 1881, after only two fruitful years at Thirteenth Presbyterian, he resigned in order to begin an independent gospel ministry to the many new immigrants and the neglected masses of New York City. Simpson began informal training classes in 1882 in order to reach "the neglected peoples of the world with the neglected resources of the church". By 1883, a formal program was in place and ministers and missionaries were being trained in a multi-cultural context (This school was the beginning of Nyack College and Alliance Theological Seminary). In 1889, Simpson and his church family moved into their new home at the corner of 44th St. and 8th Av. called the New York Tabernacle. This became the base not only of his ministry of evangelism in the city but also of his growing work of worldwide missions.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 30, 2025
TURNING A CURSE INTO A BLESSING...
Any blessing we find in the world will be mixed. Look at it this way: both evil and good exist simultaneously within it.
And no one’s perfect, for we and the world are filled with Snafu’s, not just now and then - but continuously.
Look at any newspaper. It’s filled with ‘em.
And anyone who retains their innocence till young adulthood is due for a cataclysmic climacteric. We all wilt. As A.B. Simpson wilted.
There are a number of ancient passages that deal with this phenomenon, but Simpson, a hard-working and incredibly persuasive genius of a man, lived among us Canadians and Americans a mere century ago, and turned the CURSE OF HIS LIFE into a BLESSING - and not only for himself - but FOR MILLIONS.
Yeah - I kid you not. He did the impossible! But not on his own...
Albert Simpson, you see, like me was cursed all his life with Bipolar Disease, and then clean ended its disturbing effects by willing a CONTINUAL ACT OF FAITH.
Oh, he never overcame the leers & jeers of know-it-all’s, but he always bounced back from it all, and turned his shoulder to the wheel and his will into iron.
A lot of folks nowadays thank their lucky stars for the ubiquitous marketing of advanced pharmaceuticals, but Albert couldn’t do that, back in the 19th century.
He buttressed his illness with faith.
You see, he believed that IF he could humble himself in quiet reverence, harness his life to the indwelling energy of the Spirit, and constantly help others (as Immanuel Kant told us!) to see that every moment of inspired action in their life could in fact be seen as Something that eventually can have a UNIVERSAL IMPACT on this world of daily drudgery all around us, the Sprit would give him - and He would give us all - the power to do it.
That’s Kant’s Categorical Imperative in religious terms.
For the Bible is the place Kant first saw it, and the source from which he borrowed it.
THOSE are words wIth which Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life could have not only Lassoed the Moon - but the very STARS in the Firmament.
And they are words that Drive the Universe. For they are words born in its Fire and honed in its crucible.
Nowadays, of course, each separate positive person is judged in unkind terms by the cognoscenti.
Where does that leave centrist liberal Catholics like me?
Usually with plenty of raised eyebrows!
Let them snicker.
But once you harness That Star, NOBODY WILL STOP YOU - certainly NONE of your more cynically outre onlookers can do that.
They can wilt you, but not stop you.
And A.B. Simpson kept on going too - and perpetually curbed his illness with the Hard Facts of Life and Death.
That’s a pretty Tall Order, ain’t it?
No, there’s no gettin’ around it: sounds outlandish to us middlin’ folks - but it WORKS!
It works IF you believe it will work.
So... is YOUR life cursed?
Sure it is.
The media preach mindless denial, but the curse is there. The Snafu’s never end. That’s life.
You will never circumvent that fact in idiotic denial like Simpson and myself did when younger, but you can use Simpson’s final remedy and never quit trying.
And by trying continually to lasso that Star called Hope...
It’ll always hoist you back onto your feet.
Any blessing we find in the world will be mixed. Look at it this way: both evil and good exist simultaneously within it.
And no one’s perfect, for we and the world are filled with Snafu’s, not just now and then - but continuously.
Look at any newspaper. It’s filled with ‘em.
And anyone who retains their innocence till young adulthood is due for a cataclysmic climacteric. We all wilt. As A.B. Simpson wilted.
There are a number of ancient passages that deal with this phenomenon, but Simpson, a hard-working and incredibly persuasive genius of a man, lived among us Canadians and Americans a mere century ago, and turned the CURSE OF HIS LIFE into a BLESSING - and not only for himself - but FOR MILLIONS.
Yeah - I kid you not. He did the impossible! But not on his own...
Albert Simpson, you see, like me was cursed all his life with Bipolar Disease, and then clean ended its disturbing effects by willing a CONTINUAL ACT OF FAITH.
Oh, he never overcame the leers & jeers of know-it-all’s, but he always bounced back from it all, and turned his shoulder to the wheel and his will into iron.
A lot of folks nowadays thank their lucky stars for the ubiquitous marketing of advanced pharmaceuticals, but Albert couldn’t do that, back in the 19th century.
He buttressed his illness with faith.
You see, he believed that IF he could humble himself in quiet reverence, harness his life to the indwelling energy of the Spirit, and constantly help others (as Immanuel Kant told us!) to see that every moment of inspired action in their life could in fact be seen as Something that eventually can have a UNIVERSAL IMPACT on this world of daily drudgery all around us, the Sprit would give him - and He would give us all - the power to do it.
That’s Kant’s Categorical Imperative in religious terms.
For the Bible is the place Kant first saw it, and the source from which he borrowed it.
THOSE are words wIth which Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life could have not only Lassoed the Moon - but the very STARS in the Firmament.
And they are words that Drive the Universe. For they are words born in its Fire and honed in its crucible.
Nowadays, of course, each separate positive person is judged in unkind terms by the cognoscenti.
Where does that leave centrist liberal Catholics like me?
Usually with plenty of raised eyebrows!
Let them snicker.
But once you harness That Star, NOBODY WILL STOP YOU - certainly NONE of your more cynically outre onlookers can do that.
They can wilt you, but not stop you.
And A.B. Simpson kept on going too - and perpetually curbed his illness with the Hard Facts of Life and Death.
That’s a pretty Tall Order, ain’t it?
No, there’s no gettin’ around it: sounds outlandish to us middlin’ folks - but it WORKS!
It works IF you believe it will work.
So... is YOUR life cursed?
Sure it is.
The media preach mindless denial, but the curse is there. The Snafu’s never end. That’s life.
You will never circumvent that fact in idiotic denial like Simpson and myself did when younger, but you can use Simpson’s final remedy and never quit trying.
And by trying continually to lasso that Star called Hope...
It’ll always hoist you back onto your feet.
December 18, 2020
Old favorite revisited. Bought a copy for one of my sons.
December 31, 2018
Unfolding Promises
I would summarize the authors approach to scripture as an cave to be mined for jewels to be worn. He is on an overt search for the promises of God to decorate his life with riches that cannot be earned but can be claimed.
I would summarize the authors approach to scripture as an cave to be mined for jewels to be worn. He is on an overt search for the promises of God to decorate his life with riches that cannot be earned but can be claimed.
December 18, 2014
I started this the first of the year and read it daily. Had some nuggets of gold. Would recommend it, easy and understandable.
December 31, 2021
Great Devotional
This is another devotional full of spiritual treasures. Take time to study a page a day and grow in the Word of God
This is another devotional full of spiritual treasures. Take time to study a page a day and grow in the Word of God
September 12, 2023
Terrible
May 31, 2017
This book is like sweet honey for the soul. The spirit of A B Simpson reflects on each page.
Some devotions are better than others. Enjoyed each devotion.
Helps your soul to be lifted high by looking the heavens while walking on the earth.
Recommend for anyone who desires for a spirit-filled life.
Some devotions are better than others. Enjoyed each devotion.
Helps your soul to be lifted high by looking the heavens while walking on the earth.
Recommend for anyone who desires for a spirit-filled life.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews