Daily Bible Notes: April, 24th
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
And because of all this we make a sure covenant.
Nehemiah 9:38
There are many occasions in our experience when we may very rightly, and with benefit, renew our covenant with God. After recovery from sickness when, like Hezekiah, we have had a new term of years added to our life, we may fitly do it. After any deliverance from trouble , when our joys bud forth anew, let us again visit the foot of the cross, and renew our consecration. Especially, let us do this after any sin which has grieved the Holy Spirit , or brought dishonour upon the cause of God; let us then look to that blood which can make us whiter than snow, and again offer ourselves unto the Lord. We should not only let our troubles confirm our dedication to God, but our prosperity should do the same. If we ever meet with occasions which deserve to be called "crowning mercies" then, surely, if He hath crowned us, we ought also to crown our God; let us bring forth anew all the jewels of the divine regalia which have been stored in the jewel-closet of our heart, and let our God sit upon the throne of our love, arrayed in royal apparel. If we would learn to profit by our prosperity, we should not need so much adversity. If we would gather from a kiss all the good it might confer upon us, we should not so often smart under the rod.
Have we lately received some blessing which we little expected? Has the Lord put our feet in a large room? Can we sing of mercies multiplied? Then this is the day to put our hand upon the horns of the altar, and say, "Bind me here, my God; bind me here with cords, even for ever." Inasmuch as we need the fulfillment of new promises from God, let us offer renewed prayers that our old vows may not be dishonoured. Let us this morning make with Him a sure covenant, because of the pains of Jesus which for the last month we have been considering with gratitude.
Evening
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.
Song of Solomon 2:12
Sweet is the season of spring: the long and dreary winter helps us to appreciate its genial warmth, and its promise of summer enhances its present delights. After periods of depression of spirit, it is delightful to behold again the light of the Sun of Righteousness; then our slumbering graces rise from their lethargy, like the crocus and the daffodil from their beds of earth; then is our heart made merry with delicious notes of gratitude, far more melodious than the warbling of birds - and the comforting assurance of peace, infinitely more delightful than the turtle’s note, is heard within the soul. Now is the time for the soul to seek communion with her Beloved; now must she rise from her native sordidness, and come away from her old associations. If we do not hoist the sail when the breeze is favourable, we shall be blameworthy: times of refreshing ought not to pass over us unimproved. When Jesus Himself visits us in tenderness, and entreats us to arise, can we be so base as to refuse His request? He has Himself risen that He may draw us after Him:
He now by His Holy Spirit has revived us, that we may, in newness of life, ascend into the heavenlies, and hold communion with Himself. Let our wintry state suffice us for coldness and indifference; when the Lord creates a spring within, let our sap flow with vigour, and our branch blossom with high resolve. O Lord, if it be not spring time in my chilly heart, I pray Thee make it so, for I am heartily weary of living at a distance from Thee.
Oh! the long and dreary winter, when wilt Thou bring it to an end? Come, Holy Spirit, and renew my soul! quicken Thou me! restore me, and have mercy on me! This very night I would earnestly implore the Lord to take pity upon His servant, and send me a happy revival of spiritual life!
2. "My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year" by J.H.Jowett
Luke 17:3-10
3 Be careful. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him.
4 If he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times returns, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him."
5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
6 The Lord said, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you would tell this sycamore tree, 'Be uprooted, and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.
7 But who is there amongst you, having a servant ploughing or keeping sheep, that will say when he comes in from the field, 'Come immediately and sit down at the table,'
8 and will not rather tell him, 'Prepare my supper, clothe yourself properly, and serve me, while I eat and drink. Afterward you shall eat and drink'?
9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded? I think not.
10 Even so you also, when you have done all the things that are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy servants. We have done our duty.' "
LIMITED FORGIVENESS
We are always inclined to set a limit to our moral obligations. We wish, as we say, "to draw a line somewhere." We want to appoint a definite place where obligation ceases, and where the moral strain may be released. The Apostle Peter wished his Master to draw such a line in the matter of forgiveness. "Lord, how oft shall I forgive? Till seven times?" He wanted a tiny moral rule which he could apply to his brother's conduct.
Not so the Lord. Our Master tells His disciple that in those spiritual realms relations are not governed by arithmetic. We cannot, by counting, measure off our obligations. Our repeated acts of forgiveness never bring us nearer to the freedom of revenge. No amount of sweetness will ever permit us to be bitter. We cannot, by being good, obtain a license to be evil. The fact of the matter is, if our goodness is of genuine quality, every act will more strongly dispose us to further goodness. It is the counterfeit element in our goodness that inclines us to the opposite camp. It is when our forgiveness is tainted that we anticipate the "sweetness" of revenge.
3. "Yet Another Day - A Prayer for Every Day of the Year" by John H.Jowett
April 24th.
My Father, let in the light to-day, as my eyes are able to bear it. May some deeper glory break upon my soul, and may I be won
into deeper reverence and devotion!
4. "The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith" by C.H.Spurgeon.
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith,
saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not
be room enough to receive it.
Malachi 3:10
Many read and plead this promise without noticing the condition upon which the blessing is promised. We cannot expect heaven to be opened or blessing poured out unless we pay our dues unto the Lord our God and to his cause. There would be no lack of funds for holy purposes if all professing Christians paid their fair share.
Many are poor because they rob God. Many churches, also, miss the visitations of the Spirit because they starve their ministers. If there is no temporal meat for God's servants, we need not wonder if their ministry has but little food in it for our souls. When missions pine for means, and the work of the Lord is hindered by an empty treasury how can we look for a large amount of soul-prosperity?
Come, come! What have I given of late? Have I been mean to my God? Have I stinted my Saviour? This will never do. Let me give my Lord Jesus his tithe by helping the poor, and aiding his work, and then I shall prove his power to bless me on a large scale.
5. "The Morning Message" by G.Campbell Morgan.
Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 2:5, R.V.
Christ came to create, not a creed, not a formula of doctrine, not a profession in orthodoxy which may become the most veritable heterodoxy, but - character.
6. "An Evening Meditation" taken from "Searchlights from the Word" by G.Campbell Morgan.
He reasoned of righteousness, and self-control, and the judgment to come.
Acts 24:25
Felix sent for Paul, and "heard him concerning the faith in Christ Jesus": and this is what he heard, and he "was terrified." The faith in Christ Jesus is infinitely more than a soft love-story. It is always a love-story, but the love in it is the love of God, and that cuts like a sword, burns like a fire, searches like an acid, in the case of some. Paul was a true doctor of divinity. He not only knew the faith, he knew how to preach it so as to meet the need with which he was called upon to deal. His diagnosis and his prognosis were accurate. That is to say that he knew the nature of the spiritual malady of Felix, and also the course that disease would pursue. Therefore he handled this man's soul in the true way. The man was immoral: therefore he reasoned of righteousness. He was swayed by his passions: therefore he reasoned with him of self-control. He was rebellious against authority: therefore he reasoned with him concerning the tribunal before which he must ultimately render his account. But all this by the standards of the faith in Christ Jesus. By that faith Felix might find the power for righteousness, the strength for self-control, and so the readiness to stand uncondemned before the final judgment-bar. Surely it is a terrifying faith, for it rebukes sin, but the terror it awakes is the inspiration of new life. What the issue is, depends upon the response of the soul.
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.