Daily Bible Notes: April, 21st
The following daily bible notes for every day of the year, are taken from six public domain sources:
- "Morning and Evening" by Charles H.Spurgeon
- "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by John H.Jowett
- "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
- "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by Charles H.Spurgeon
- "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan
- An Evening Meditation from "Searchlights from the Word" by G. Campbell Morgan
1. "Morning and Evening" by C.H.Spurgeon
Morning
I know that my Redeemer liveth.
Job 19:25
The marrow of Job’s comfort lies in that little word "My" -"My Redeemer," and in the fact that the Redeemer lives. Oh! to get hold of a living Christ. We must get a property in Him before we can enjoy Him.
What is gold in the mine to me? Men are beggars in Peru, and beg their bread in California. It is gold in my purse which will satisfy my necessities, by purchasing the bread I need. So a Redeemer who does not redeem me , an avenger who will never stand up for my blood, of what avail were such? Rest not content until by faith you can say "Yes, I cast myself upon my living Lord; and He is mine." It may be you hold Him with a feeble hand; you half think it presumption to say, "He lives as my Redeemer;" yet, remember if you have but faith as a grain of mustard seed, that little faith entitles you to say it. But there is also another word here, expressive of Job’s strong confidence, "I know ." To say, "I hope so, I trust so" is comfortable; and there are thousands in the fold of Jesus who hardly ever get much further. But to reach the essence of consolation you must say, "I know." Ifs, buts, and perhapses, are sure murderers of peace and comfort. Doubts are dreary things in times of sorrow. Like wasps they sting the soul! If I have any suspicion that Christ is not mine, then there is vinegar mingled with the gall of death; but if I know that Jesus lives for me, then darkness is not dark: even the night is light about me. Surely if Job, in those ages before the coming and advent of Christ, could say, "I know," we should not speak less positively. God forbid that our positiveness should be presumption. Let us see that our evidences are right, lest we build upon an ungrounded hope; and then let us not be satisfied with the mere foundation, for it is from the upper rooms that we get the widest prospect.
A living Redeemer, truly mine, is joy unspeakable.
Evening
Who is even at the right hand of God.
Romans 8:34
He who was once despised and rejected of men, now occupies the honourable position of a beloved and honoured Son. The right hand of God is the place of majesty and favour . Our Lord Jesus is His people’s representative. When He died for them they had rest; He rose again for them, they had liberty; when He sat down at His Father’s right hand, they had favour, and honour, and dignity. The raising and elevation of Christ is the elevation, the acceptance, and enshrinement, the glorifying of all His people, for He is their head and representative. This sitting at the right hand of God, then, is to be viewed as the acceptance of the person of the Surety, the reception of the Representative, and therefore, the acceptance of our souls. O saint, see in this thy sure freedom from condemnation. "Who is he that condemneth?" Who shall condemn the men who are in Jesus at the right hand of God?
The right hand is the place of power . Christ at the right hand of God hath all power in heaven and in earth. Who shall fight against the people who have such power vested in their Captain? O my soul, what can destroy thee if Omnipotence be thy helper? If the aegis of the Almighty cover thee, what sword can smite thee? Rest thou secure. If Jesus is thine all-prevailing King, and hath trodden thine enemies beneath His feet; if sin, death, and hell are all vanquished by Him, and thou art represented in Him, by no possibility canst thou be destroyed. "Jesu’s tremendous name Puts all our foes to flight:
Jesus, the meek, the angry Lamb, A Lion is in fight. "By all hell’s host withstood; We all hell’s host o’erthrow; And conquering them, through Jesu’s blood We still to conquer go."
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
1 John 2:1-11
1 My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counsellor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.
2 And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.
3 This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments.
4 One who says, "I know him," and doesn't keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isn't in him.
5 But God's love has most certainly been perfected in whoever keeps his word. This is how we know that we are in him:
6 he who says he remains in him ought himself also to walk just like he walked.
7 Brothers, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.
8 Again, I write a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you; because the darkness is passing away and the true light already shines.
9 He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness even until now.
10 He who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no occasion for stumbling in him.
11 But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and doesn't know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
LOVE AS THE GREAT MAGICIAN
A new commandment! And yet it is an old one with a new meaning. It is the old water-pot, but its water has been changed into wine. It is the old letter with a new spirit. It is the old body with a new soul. Love makes all things new! It changes duty into delight, and statutes into songs.
What a magic difference love makes to a face. It at once becomes a face illumined. Love makes the plainest face winsome and attractive. It adds the light of heaven, and the earthly is transfigured. No cosmetics are needed when love is in possession. She will do her own beautifying work, and everybody will know her sign.
What a magic difference love makes in service! The hireling goes about his work with heavy and reluctant feet: the lover sings and dances at his toil. The hireling scamps his work: the lover is always adding another touch, and is never satisfied. Just one more touch! And just another! And so on until the good God shall say that loving "patience has had her perfect work."
Love lights up everything, for she is the light of life. Let her dwell in the soul, and every room in the life shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
April 21st.
O God, the work of the day is beginning. May it be inspired by lofty purpose and brightened by the sense of Thy gracious
companionship!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
Proverbs 19:17
We are to give to the poor out of pity. Not to be seen and applauded, much less to get influence over them; but out of pure sympathy and compassion we must give them help.
We must not expect to get anything back from the poor, not even gratitude; but we should regard what we have done as a loan to the Lord. He undertakes the obligation, and, if we look to him in the matter, we must not look to the second party. What an honour the Lord bestows upon us when he condescends to borrow of us! That merchant is greatly favoured who has the Lord on his books. It would seem a pity to have such a name down for a paltry pittance; let us make it a heavy amount. The next needy man that comes this way, let us help him.
As for re-payment, we can hardly think of it, and yet here is the Lord's note of hand. Blessed be his name, his promise to pay is better than gold and silver. Are we running a little short through the depression of the times? We may venture humbly to present this bill at the Bank of Faith. Has any one of our readers been a bit of a screw to the poor? Poor soul. May the Lord forgive him.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Redeeming the time. The consecration of time is sadly neglected.
Ephesians 5:16
We are ready to consecrate material possessions and gifts bestowed, but are often careless of our time.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
Acts 21:13
Paul was still journeying toward Rome, though he would not arrive there for years. The immediate goal was Jerusalem, and still he did not know what awaited him there. He had now reached Caesarea, and his friends were attempting to dissuade him from going, for the prophet Agabus had foretold that he would be bound and handed over to the Gentiles. This was Paul's reply to these beseechings of these friends. It was a declaration again of his devotion to the main path of duty, and of his carelessness as to what experiences he might pass through as he trod that path. To follow Paul thus, and to observe his steadfastness, impresses us with the strength of the man; but it impresses us more with the greatness of the work to which he was called. To him nothing could compare for grandeur, and dignity, and spaciousness, with the career of proclaiming the Name. Nothing else counted. The toil, the travail, the perils - these were incidental. He was entirely careless concerning them. And is it not always so, that any slacking in devotion is proof of some failure in conception as to the glory of the service? Any weakening in our sense of the supreme fullness and power of the Name will inevitably result in a growing sense of difficulties; and this will fill us with the fear that paralyses. While the Name is to us what it is to God, the Name above every name, the cost of proclaiming it is never counted.
Note: To the best of our knowledge we are of the understanding that the above material, all published before 1926 and freely available elsewhere on the internet in various formats, is in the public domain.