The Words of Jesus

31 daily reflections on the words of Jesus, providing strength and comfort to weary souls.

“Macduff, who, in his inimitable devotional works, has given so many heavenly suggestions, so much material for devout meditations, and so many sacred impulses. It is to the Rev. John R. Macduff, of Glasgow, an eloquent minister of the established church of Scotland, we are indebted for those incomparable Christian manuals, which have dropped manna round the tents of thousands of pilgrims in Great Britain and America.” -The Lutheran Home Journal, Volume 3, 1858

Reverend John Ross Macduff (1818-1895), a Presbyterian minister, was born at Bonhard, near Perth, Scotland, and educated at the high school of Edinburgh and in the university of the same city. He became a minister of the Church of Scotland in 1842. Among his pastorates was one of fifteen years in the city of Glasgow. In 1871 Dr. Macduff gave up the pastoral relation. He is the author of a number of volumes in prose and poetry. Most of his hymns appeared in his Altar Stones (1853), and in The Gates of Praise (1874). The Universities of Glasgow and of New York each conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. His works include: The Night Watches (c1851), Morning Watches (1852), The Little Child's Book of Divinity (1853), The Words of Jesus (1854), The Mind of Jesus Christ (1855), Family Prayers (1856), Evening Incense (1856), Memories of Bethany (1856), Story of Bethlehem (1859), The Faithful Promiser (1860), The Ploughman's Text-Book (1861), Grapes of Eshcol (1861), Palms of Elim (1879), Gleams From the Sick Chamber (1881), The Story of a Dewdrop (1881) and others.